At Night
by StarvingArtistinNY
Summary: An AU fic set in present day New York City. Inuyasha is homeless living on the streets after dropping out of Medical school and meets Kagome Higurashi a junior VP for a prestigious advertising company. After their initial meeting Kagome proposes a way f
1. Ch 1: Only in New York

Okay, so let's get the boring stuff over with first.

**Disclaimer**: I do NOT own Inuyasha ever, nor will I ever, it is not mine I am merely borrowing the characters and names and such because I have limited creativity in my body.

Now then, let me continue here. This would be my first fan fiction…ever not that there haven't' been attempts, but they have been for lack of a better word lame or stupid depending on your preference of word. As you can see, I do not own a thesaurus and thus cannot come up with words better than that to describe my work. I do hope you enjoy it though. This fic was inspired by a song of the same name, but no it's not a songfic by any stretch. Okay, just to clear some things up, this story takes places during the present day and is set in New York City, New York USA. I realize the names I will be using are Japanese, but now let's ignore this fact and get on with the story. So without further ado, my magnum opus of writing…

**At Night**

**Chapter I: Only in New York**

New York City, center of the universe, or at least this was true for the million plus people that lived there, worked there, or traveled there every day. It was the modern jungle. Yes, it contained some animal life, some squirrels, the odd pigeon or two or eighty thousand, but the real separation was among the people that lived there. There are members of every social class living and working together on the same islands next to each other and interacting with each other every day. And you're either one of the elite, perhaps working as a Vice President or CEO of a Fortune 500 company or just he opposite, and be living destitute and homeless. It is in New York especially that these two groups meet frequently, and that is how this story begins.

It was a cold day in mid November marking the end of Fall and the beginning of Winter. The temperature had been steadily declining for two weeks making it Nye unbearable to wear anything less than a coat, gloves, and a scarf. New Yorkers, not known for their kind and friendly demeanor in the first place were even more irritable than usual as they hurried along to get out of the cold, and thus colorful language was added to the already prodigious noise level of the city. Thankfully, the wind was dying down granting some relief from the cool weather of the day. Pedestrians walked by on foot, bundled up tightly in winter coats, some with gloves and hats or scarves, and the occasional oddball who still wore earmuffs, some talking on cell phones, others chatting with friends, some tourists reading maps, attempting to find their way back to Grand Central Station to take Metro North home to White Plains, New Rochelle, Greenwich, Bridgeport or the various other stops along the way back from the city. So out of the hundreds upon hundreds of people walking up or across Madison Avenue and East 42nd Street every minute there was one young man who was particularly inconsequential. Point in fact, most people who passed by him were purposely avoiding him. He was fairly average in most ways. He was dressed in thick brown winter boots that were stained with various substances, some dirty blue jeans that were slightly too large for him, a tattered gray woolen sweater clung to his skinny frame, a faded winter overcoat that was dark and dirty was draped over him, a red scarf that was slightly ragged, but cleaner than the rest of his apparel hung loosely about his neck, and matching gloves adorned his hands, with holes in most of the fingers and one slightly larger one and the palm of the left glove. He stood up 6'1 and had long silver white hair came down his back, crowned curiously by two white dog ears, and intense bright golden eyes scanned the crowd. Yes, he was a hanyou, a half demon, but no one seemed to bear that any mind. Point in fact; it was not all that atypical this day and age. He sat nonchalantly on an upturned crate, a paper cup from McDonalds in his clawed hand.

A pretty young woman with long black hair was drawing closer dressed elegantly in a knee length black skirt, white blouse, and suit jacket, over that a winter pea coat that she held closed tightly with her free hand. In her hand she held a briefcase that seemed on the verge of bursting from everything that was crammed inside of it. On her shoulder was slung a nice Coach handbag and as she passed by the young man, his voice penetrated the noise of the city.

" 'Scuse me Ma'am. Can you spare some change?" he asked politely, smiling and holding out the cup and shaking it so that the few nickels and dimes in it jangled slightly.

The young woman gave a small start as she was thrown out of her world and locked eyes for the briefest of moments before blushing slightly, and mumbling something indistinguishable, shaking her head and hurrying off down the street.

A tall man approached from the opposite direction, carrying a copy of the Wall Street Journal in one hand, his coat in the other. He was dressed elegantly in a dark Armani suit and patent leather shoes, hair styled perfectly to frame his face. A nice winter coat and Kashmir scarf.

The youth tried again, "Sir, any extra change you could..." He trailed off as the man in the Armani suit didn't even glance at him and continued to walk by.

A third man walked by dressed as elegantly as the first one accompanied by two other men dressed strikingly similarly.

"Hey sir 'scuse me…'scuse me…do you have any…" the young man tried once again to get there attention, but was once again passed by and ignored. The ears on the top of his head drooped dejectedly.

Inuyasha sighed to himself and gave a contemptuous, but half hearted 'Feh' as people continued to pass by. The crowds were thinner now, the afternoon rush all, but over. He looked up to watch the sun dip behind one of the taller buildings around his spot, causing the sunlight to filter through the glass, cascading him in broken light. He closed his eyes and drank these last few moments of sunlight, inhaling sharply through his nose, causing him to cough. He brought up his dirty ragged sleeve to cover his mouth. It had not been a good day although that was an understatement. He was tired and sore, and putting himself through the humiliation of begging for peoples spare change was really trying to ones self confidence and self esteem. He was just plain irritated and angry. People would barely look at him on the street and when he did he was met with quick hurried stares full, some fearful afraid he might jump out and attack them or something. "I may be homeless, but I ain't crazy" Inuyasha mused to himself rubbing his sore back. The noise caused a couple passing by to look over and stare at him a mixture of superiority, contempt, and pity on their faces. He could see the judgment pass over their faces as they slowed there walk ever so slightly.

"What!" he growled at them, his eyes flashing with anger at being stared at like a sideshow freak. He didn't no where the rage came from sparked suddenly from the cold his need for dignity and his desire to be treated like a person. "You never seen a homeless person before?" he practically shouted at them.

The couple startled picked up there pace, but not before one, in typical New York style glanced over there shoulder and yelled back at him, "Get a job, you lazy bum".

Inuyasha stayed standing slack jawed unable to come up with a decent comeback other than a lame, hesitantly shouted "Oh yeah?" before he slumped back onto the crate he'd been sitting on a little harder than he'd meant to and it gave a crack as it split cleanly in two causing him to topple to the hard pavement with a loud 'Oof'. He angrily tossed the broken pieces of the crate away. He looked around at the street to watch the retreating form of the couple vanish in the distance.

"Living on the street is no dream of anyone's pal" he sighed miserably. He picked himself up off the ground and dusted himself off, though it helped very little. He'd have to find a new crate tomorrow, or else sit on cold hard pavement all day. He reached down and picked up a little rucksack that carried the few meager possessions he had and slung it over his shoulder. He pulled his coat tight around himself, suppressing a shiver and began walking down the street. He poured the few contents of the cup into his hand and poked at the change with a dirty clawed finger.

"And a grand total of sixty-seven cents and two Canadian nickels," he said aloud to no one in particular. There was practically no one on the streets at this point, most at home or in one of New York's hundreds of restaurants getting dinner. A police officer nearby looked up as he spoke, but glanced back to the ticket he was writing to an illegally parked car, paying Inuyasha no more mind.

"Well, I can afford to buy absolutely fuckel to eat tonight" he mused to himself bitterly. "Guess this is going into my savings account". He placed the change into the pocket in his coat, the one without the hole and kept walking increasing his pace to keep his body temperature up.

He had a ways to go before he got back to his ally despite the angry protests of his stomach that he should find some food first. "Not now, stomach, we'll have this argument later" Inuyasha mumbled to himself as he loafed along. His stomach gave another angry growl as if to say, 'No, we'll have this argument now'. Inuyasha stopped in his tracks balled up a fist and struck himself in the stomach, a decision he immediately regretted. "No, we'll have this argument later" he said weakly trying to catch his breath having knocked the wind out of himself. His stomach remained silent for a time giving the occasional rumble to remind him however.

Glancing up ahead he hurried to make the crosswalk before the light changed, but as soon as he reached the curb the light winked back to an almost mocking 'DON'T WALK' sign and traffic immediately began moving making it impossible for him to cross. He crossed his arms over his chest and muttered another 'Feh' and added a 'stupid smart-aleck crossing sign' for good measure. A woman accompanied by her small daughter came up beside yet slightly behind him. The young girl leaned around her mother to look at Inuyasha curiously for a moment. Inuyasha looked down at the girl and smiled a little bit, but the girl wrinkled her nose and tugged on her mom's sleeve.

"Mommy that man smells funny" she said loudly jutting her lower lip forward and glaring at Inuyasha.

The mother's face flushed at the words that had just come out of her daughter's mouth. The light changed again and they took off across the street the girl's mother berating her quietly as they hustled along.

Inuyasha stayed planted for a moment before muttering another 'Feh' and walking slowly across the street. Little kids were the worst, so damn honest. This day kept getting better and better. He glanced up at the night sky, the stars invisible because of the bright New York lights. The moon however was bright and Inuyasha gave it a small smile. The best part of his day was at night, leaving him free to let his mind wander and dream, because in reality that was much better than the life he lived in the daytime. Inuyasha breathed slowly letting all shit he'd dealt with in the daytime fade away. He thought about his future, "Three years, he told himself, just three more years" as he kept walking. He walked on holding onto his optimism dreaming of the one thing that kept him going.

Twenty minutes and multiple blocks later he reached his destination, his little slice of heaven and the place he called home. He was just about to duck into the alley to make his way to the combination of cardboard boxes and wooden planks and assortment of random junk when he heard a short scream that was quickly come from just up ahead of him. He looked up just in time to see two men drag a young woman into a nearby alley. Inuyasha quickly glanced around the street. It was deserted save for himself and he began a moral battle with himself. On one hand it was none of his business and he didn't really feel like getting into a fight with two possibly armed men, on the other hand it was this kind of non-involvement that he hated most about New Yorkers. He gave a fleeting look to his alley and the promise of rest for his weary body, but another muffled scream shook him from his thoughts.

"Ah, screw it, maybe she'll reward me for being her knight in tattered armor" Inuyasha reasoned to himself. Besides, he was still angry and he could take it out on these two losers. He quickly moved closer to the alley and as he did he heard the voices of the two assailants.

"Hang on to 'err, Steve" one of them said.

"I'm _trying_ John, she's a fighter" the other one replied.

"Hold still lady, give us the purse and you won't get hurt" the first voice said threateningly.

A loud 'OUCH' quickly followed and another muffled scream. "She fucking bit me, John. The little bitch, fucking bit me" the second voice, 'Steve', cursed angrily.

Inuyasha turned the corner to see two average sized guys, whom he had already gleaned were John and Steve. In a way it was kind of pathetic, 'Steve' was right she was a fighter. A pretty young woman, nicely dressed with long black hair, and bright hazel eyes, was fighting as if her life depended on it, thrashing and flailing and kicking with her legs, while Steve tried to hold her down and keep her mouth covered, and John tried to get her purse away from her.

Suddenly 'Steve' reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a switchblade knife holding it to the young woman's neck. She immediately stopped moving, her eyes glancing at Steve's eyes and the blade pressed tightly to her throat.

"Now, then, that's much better, now we don't want to hurt you, just give us the purse and we can avoid any further unpleasantries," Steve, the one with the knife said breathing out and grinning as he had now gained the upper hand in all of this. That was when Inuyasha decided to step into this.

"Hey, Stupid and Ugly!" Inuyasha barked at them threateningly to the two thieves.

The two thieves whirled around, startled, to face Inuyasha who was trying to look as intimidating as possible.

The first robber, 'John' stood up to face him. "Beat it ya bum, this is no concern uh yours" he said threateningly.

"Just take a walk before something bad happens to you" the second one chimed in standing up. The young woman just sat there too frightened to move.

"Schmucks" Inuyasha said degradingly, judging from the accents and the 'tough guy' attitudes they were giving him they were from Brooklyn and therefore quite warranting an ass kicking from him. "I'll take a walk once you get off my island, it smells bad enough without you losers here" he taunted the two of them taking a step closer.

"Oh, we got a comedian here, John" Steve said advancing on him with the knife. "I think a proper ass kicking is in order, don't you John?" he asked his cohort, who nodded his head in agreement.

Steve and John, they even had stupid names, these two definitely needed a 'proper ass kicking' to straighten them out. Inuyasha cracked his knuckles and stepped forward to meet Steve who had approached him menacingly with the knife out.

"Look at my thumb" Inuyasha said to Steve extending his left hand and his thumb in the face of Steve.

Steve looked at it curious and confused and thrown off by the strange request. Less than a second later Inuyasha's right fist smashed into his temple knocking him down and causing him to lose his knife. The thief groaned in pain and gripped the side of his face.

"I know I wouldn't want to be hit by me either" Inuyasha said before turning his attention to the other robber, who was busy trying to free something from his pocket. Inuyasha wasted no time hurling his knapsack at the robber not really hurting him much, but causing him to fall to the ground because of the unexpected move. Inuyasha pounced as the robber made to stand up again kicking him in the stomach, causing John to double over in pain gasping.

Steve meanwhile had stood up having recovered from the strike and was moving slowly and slightly awkwardly towards Inuyasha. Inuyasha reacted by grabbing the doubled over John and hurling him into Steve knocking them both over. The two recovered surprisingly quickly and moved to attack again John swinging his fist wildly. He came in with a hook, but Inuyasha had ducked low and swept his legs out from under him with his leg. Rising as Steve came in next to attack he gripped the bottom of his shirt pulling it up over his head locking his arms above his head and exposing him perfectly to the heel of Inuyasha's foot as he delivered a powerful side kick to Steve's chest sending him flying and falling to land on top of John. The two robbers untangled themselves and looked up to see an angry Inuyasha who was advancing on them again, rolling up his sleeves, but the duo had had enough and scrambled to their feet, sliding this way and that before booking it out of the alley and down the street battered and bruised.

"And next time it'll be worse. Stay out of Manhattan!" he yelled to their retreating forms. He turned back and smiled, "Huh, I feel much better" he mused.

He bent down to pick up his knapsack, which had somehow gotten another hole in it and Inuyasha clicked his tongue in disgust. He supposed that was what came from being a nice guy. He finally turned to the young woman slumped against a trash dumpster.

"Hey Miss, its okay…" he began, but trailed off as he looked at her unconscious form. It had all been too much for her and she had passed out.

"Shit" Inuyasha swore and bent down shaking her gently. She mumbled something indistinguishable, but did not come back to consciousness. Inuyasha took the moment to look her over. She was young, around his age and pretty, very pretty, gorgeous in fact. Long black hair, a beautiful complexion, soft skin, full lips, long shapely legs and full firm looking…Inuyasha discontinued this line of thought as it was not polite. She was unconscious after all and that just made it seem even dirtier. He stared at her hard for a moment. She seemed awfully familiar for some reason. He passed it off as he spied something on the ground next to her. It was her purse, still clasped tightly in her hand, the one that she had fought tooth and nail over keeping. Peering at her unconscious form he began another moral battle with himself. She was unconscious so he could take his own reward leave her here and she'd be none the wiser. He reached a slightly shaking hand down to the young woman's purse, but stopped himself. No, he was no thief, poor and hungry, but he was not a thief. Besides, he couldn't just leave her here for someone else to prey on her, more thieves or worse.

He supposed he could take her to the hospital, but they'd ask questions and it was ten blocks to the closest one. He didn't have money for a cab, obviously. She'd probably only be out for a few hours anyway, and maybe if he took care of her she would reward him for that too. Inuyasha bent down and picked her up gently in his arms and she groaned softly, but kept silent other than that. She looked quite peaceful as he carried her out of this alley and down 'his' alley. He winded his way down the labyrinth of passages to the place he called "home".

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So there you go, my first chapter finished and over and done with. Please read it and review it. I would very much appreciate that as this is my first attempt at writing. I would not appreciate flames because there is a wonderful new invention to replace that. It's called constructive criticism, that I would enjoy as I would like to improve my story to the best of my abilities at the current time. The following chapter will be up shortly I promise you that. Until next time

A word of wisdom from yours truly:

"Every fight is a food fight, when you're a cannibal"


	2. Ch 2: First Impressions

Hey everybody, yes it's chapter two. It's up, completed after a limited wait. I would like to first of all thank my five reviewers Kitz the Kitsune, Gwenalicious Guitar Girl, SetsukaS, Kawaii-CherryWolf, Kagome M.K. and everyone who has read my story so far. The response from you guys was great so I'll keep updating until you guys get sick of it. Now enough of that for now, let's continue with Chapter II of At Night.

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Chapter II: First Impressions**

All things considered it was not that bad. Granted it was wood and cardboard, but he knew plenty of people worse off than himself. It was warm, shielded him from the wind and surprisingly leaked very little. It even had a door of sorts…okay it was some planks of wood bound together with twine hanging on a nail, but Inuyasha never claimed to be handy and he had no one to impress with it either. It had taken him months to find everything he'd needed. He'd dragged some of this wood from eighty blocks away to give himself better protection from the wind, attracting stares from many people passing him, but he didn't mind. He used his foot to open the door and gently laid the girl's sleeping frame on the layers of cardboard and assorted blankets he called a bed. That had taken some patience and skill as well. True it was cardboard and blankets and thus not very soft, but it was the best he could do and he'd learned that he really couldn't be all that picky. He'd worked hard to make it soft and made for some fairly pleasant nights.

Inuyasha sat back and leaned against the wall of his house/a brick wall that his makeshift home leaned up against. He sat cross legged and folded his arms across his chest as he watched the woman lying down in his bed. She was breathing lightly and would seem to most people to be peacefully sleeping as opposed to have passed out in fright, like in some badly written fan fiction. She began to stir slightly and as she drowsily opened her eyes to reveal the most beautiful hazel colored eyes Inuyasha had ever seen. Inuyasha for the briefest of moments was transfixed until it was shattered by the highest pitched screech he'd ever heard in his life. With his super sensitive hearing it made him grab the sides of his head with the most painful of expressions on his face.

"Don't come any closer, you sick bastard" the young woman screamed at him backing up on the bed until her back touched the wall and sitting on her knees.

"Ah, stupid wench, don't scream so loud, I'm not going to hurt you" an angry Inuyasha screamed back.

"I'm not kidding buster, I'll kick the shit out of you if you take one step closer," She bellowed back at him and began groping in her handbag fumbling for something until she pulled out a can that had the word 'MACE' written across it.

"I'm not going to hurt you, if you'd just listen to me…" Inuyasha said as he moved closer towards her.

The girl looked at him wide eyed and fearful was still fumbling trying to angle the mace correctly and began stuttering wildly until she pointed the can of mace at him and yelled the first words that came into her mind.

"SIT BOY" she yelled holding out the can of Mace in one hand and closing her eyes and turning her head away from him. Silence followed and she sat there for an extended period of time before she slowly opened one eye and then the other. From not so far away Inuyasha was sitting staring at her with a combined look of confusion and extreme irritation. She turned to look at him again slightly confused by his actions.

"Do I look like a dog to you?" Inuyasha asked eerily calm.

"No, not really" the girl responded looking at him wide eyed.

"Then WHAT MADE YOU THINK TELLING ME TO SIT WAS GOING TO MAKE ME?" he shouted suddenly.

The girl made a small noise that sounded like 'eep' before she shyly pointed with her other hand to the top of Inuyasha's head.

Inuyasha looked up with his eyes before realizing she was pointing at his dog ears. "I'm a half demon, half dog demon to be precise" he said a little more calmly.

"Oh" the girl responded and the two lapsed into tense silence.

Inuyasha looked up at her and saw that she was still holding the can of Mace pointed at him. He reached out slowly and turned the can of Mace around in her hand. "Mace usually works the best when pointed away from you" he said leaning back again.

The girl said nothing only nodded her head slightly bringing the can of mace to her lap.

"You know that stuff isn't all that great to have, the majority of the time it gets turned back against the person who owns it" he said knowledgably.

"I guess you'd know" the girl said defiantly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded.

" Look, take whatever you want just please don't kill or rape me" she said her voice trying to sound confident despite the words she spoke and the situation she was in.

"Kill or….kill or…excuse me, but I am not a thief or a rapist thank you very much. I saved you from those two bozos that did try to rob you though and I brought you back here until you came to. And if I WAS a thief and a rapist don't you think I would have done something while you were unconscious. Jesus H. Christ!" he said annoyed.

"Oh," the girl said looking away and contemplating the logic of what he said. It made sense, and he had brought her here made her comfortable. "Thank you, she said tentatively.

"You're welcome wench, although you could try acting gracious, ya know" Inuyasha said turning away from her, but at the same time realized why she was uneasy, it was a highly unusual circumstance even outside of New York.

The girl made gave an indignant scoff and walked over a little closer to Inuyasha on her knees. "Well excuse me Mr. High and mighty, but put yourself in my position" she said indignantly her hazel eyes alight with fire.

Inuyasha snorted, but turned to face the girl smiling at him. She had spunk that was for sure, but he knew that from the moment she saw him kicking the crap out of those robbers. "I suppose you're right, but I'm not going to hurt you, I promise, scouts honor." he added holding up his hand in the cub scout salute. " Look, we obviously started on the wrong foot here. My name is Inuyasha Takashiro" he responded extending his hand. "Nice to meet you" he added for good measure.

She stared at him and then his hand hesitantly obviously not trusting him just yet. Inuyasha flexed his fingers, coaxing her to take his hand and shake it. "Come on, I don't bite" Inuyasha said smiling reassuringly.

The girl stared at him for a moment before bursting into clear peels of laughter. Inuyasha stared at her confused for a moment his hand still extended. She tried to compose herself waving her hand with the other on her chest in an "it's not you" motion. Her face was bright red, but she managed to get out, "That is so cliché, I'm sorry."

Inuyasha looked at her a confused expression on his face. "Weren't you _just_ afraid of me or something?" he asked bewildered.

The girl stopped laughing almost immediately and looked back at him again. "I am" she said a serious expression on her face. "I guess you were right though, I should be thanking you. If you were going to do anything, you probably would have by now" she said nodding her head in affirmation. She looked back at his hand again, smiled and put her hand in his shaking it firmly. "Nice to meet you too, Mr. Takashiro. My name is Kagome Higurashi", the girl said apparently a little more at ease and trusting of Inuyasha now that she was sure he wasn't all bad, just a little intimidating and scary looking.

Inuyasha was quite sure that she was one of the strangest girls he had ever met in his entire life. "Charmed" he said eyebrows raised as he shook her hand. He couldn't help himself a moment later as he chuckled slightly to himself at the total absurdity of the interactions they'd had thus far. "I can't believe you told me to sit" he said his cheeks red more from the laughter than the temperature.

"I told you, you frightened me, and it was the first thing that came to mind" Kagome said shrugging her shoulders. "You are a dog demon, and it sort of worked, now didn't it?" she said with just a hint of smugness.

"Half dog demon, thank you very much. So what were you doing walking alone at this time of night in this neighborhood?" Inuyasha asked conversationally.

Kagome sat back on her knees again, "Oh, well I'd just gotten through with dinner with friends and instead of taking a cab I thought I'd walk home and I guess I got a little bit lost".

"That would be an understatement" Inuyasha alleged chuckling slightly. "You're new to New York?" Inuyasha posed to her.

"That obvious, huh? Yeah, my company transferred me just about two months ago. I don't really know my way around yet. " she admitted. "I like New York though, it's been great…up until about…how long was I out?" she asked.

"Not long, about a half hour near as I can tell" Inuyasha stated. "Don't worry about it though, you'll be fine just learn where you're going and don't walk alone at night".

Kagome bobbed her head admit-tingly in an 'I know, I know' fashion, "I know, I'm sorry, I'm working on it". She smiled and tapped the can of mace still in her lap absently. "Well, Mr. Takashiro, thank you for…saving me. I guess I should be going now, if I had anyone to go home to, I bet they'd be worried sick" Kagome said jokingly.

Inuyasha sighed, he hadn't realized it, but it had been nice to have some company. He wasn't used to having conversations that lasted more than a few seconds. It had been far too long. "Yes, I suppose so. It was nice meeting you too, Miss Higurashi" he said nodding his head.

Kagome looked at Inuyasha for a moment placing the can of mace back into her pocket book. Smiling again she took out her wallet and pulled out a crisp five dollar bill. "Here" she said kindly. "I know it's not much, but it's all I have. Those robbers wouldn't have gotten much off of me if they had robbed me, I guess" she laughed a little bit raising her eyebrows for emphasis.

Inuyasha smiled too although he'd been hoping for more, but he wouldn't complain. This would feed him for a week if he stretched it out enough. "Thank you, I appreciate it more than you can know" he said.

Kagome looked at him worriedly for a moment and looked as if she was doing her best to not say something that was obviously on her mind. Finally, unable to contain herself any longer she spoke up. "Now, make sure you spend that money on FOOD, okay?" she said scoldingly.

Looking up at Kagome, snapped away from the crispness of the five dollars he'd just been given and planning exactly what he'd get from the McDonalds dollar menu. He raised an eyebrow and looked at her curiously. "What else would I spend it on?" he asked.

"Oh well, you know," Kagome stuttered slightly. "Some people in your…situation are there because of well…drug problems or…alcohol problems, so I'm just saying…that's all" she finished trying to put it tactfully, but failing slightly as there really was no good way to put it.

Doing a double take Inuyasha stood up suddenly. "Drugs…what….alcohol?" he said angrily. He couldn't believe it, he just couldn't believe it. "Of all the…I can't…what…just how" Inuyasha sputtered in a state of such disbelief that he couldn't even form coherent sentences. He gesticulated wildly with his hands trying to come up with some semblance of a point in his incoherent ramblings, but was still only able to sputter. "Never mind, never mind, you're welcome for saving you, but I should have known better than to have one of _you _people even try to understand my situation. It's been a thin slice of heaven Miss Higurashi, but I think it _is _time you left" Inuyasha said sarcasm dripping from his voice and extending a hand to the door of his ramshackle home.

Standing up and placing her hands on her hips Kagome met him with equal fire. "I'm _trying _to help you get your life back on track, even a little bit. I'm _trying _to be helpful!"

Inuyasha couldn't believe her audacity standing here lecturing him. "Don't presume than you know anything about me just because of how I live and the way I look" he stated pointing at her with a long finger.

"Well maybe _you _should be more accepting of people who are just trying help someone like you and not use being homeless as an excuse to be lazy!" she snapped back. "And it's not polite to _point" _she finished poking him hard in the sternum.

Staring at her wild eyed Inuyasha brought both his hands to the sides of his head letting out an exasperated, "GAH! You are the most infuriating woman I have ever met in my life" he said staring her straight in the eyes. "You think this is what I want in my life?".

"I can't imagine so, no, but it's no excuse" Kagome countered tilting her head to the side making her long black hair sweep over the one side.

"You don't understand, see I told you" Inuyasha said again emphasizing his point.

Kagome sighed, "Then explain it to me" she said crossing her arms and drumming her fingers on her arms.

Inuyasha sighed and turned away from her still fuming slightly. He tapped his foot irritably with his arms folded just like hers.

"Go on" Kagome prodded.

Inuyasha sighed as he thought about the best way to explain it without gushing his own personal story to a complete stranger. He was in no mood for pity and doubted she'd believe him if he told it. He grimaced, now he remembered why he didn't like talking to people. He'd always been a loner and this just exemplified the point. He breathed in slowly and let it out calming his nerves a bit. "Let me start with this. You don't give money to homeless people begging on the street do you?" he asked her calmly simply looking up at her.

Blushing slightly at the fairly blunt statement Kagome thought for a second before responding. "Well… no, my parents…" she began, but was interrupted by Inuyasha.

"Taught you not to, I know. My dad taught me the same thing when I was little. These people deserve it, if they wanted to they'd change. They'll just use the money for something bad" he said nodding his head. "Look, I'm sorry I snapped at you , but you know the one thing that really burns me up are the assumptions that people of make of me. I deal with it every day and hearing it directly from someone makes me a little…edgy. You don't know how hard it is to beg people for change though. And people are cruel. They wear what they think about me, all over their faces, completely unaware of the pride they take from me. I stop passers by and I ask for a nickel. Spare change and they usually won't bother to look in me in the eyes because they're so caught up in their trivial self serving lives. I'm not dumb, I'm not crazy, I'm not lazy and I'm not high just a guy whose down on his luck. I need a fucking dollar to get by for a day," Inuyasha stated scoffing and muttering a 'Feh' to complete his first bit of rambling.

Inuyasha glanced up at Kagome to gauge her reaction. She seemed a little taken aback, obviously first of all never thinking about how it was to those people begging for spare change from someone like her every day. "You know though, one, it wasn't always like this and two and it won't always be. I'm getting out, eventually".

"Oh?" Kagome said speaking up. "Look, I'm sorry about how hard your life is. I really am, I was being insensitive. I can help you, bring you to a shelter, get your life back on track. You have initiative you obviously want to get out, you could get a job, you'll have to finish high school first, but… Kagome said eager to make up for reprimanding him so harshly.

Inuyasha laughed, "Kagome, I was in medical school before I ended up here".

"I'm sure you could…" Kagome stopped babbling and stared at Inuyasha wide eyed. "What? But then…how?" Kagome said clearly confused.

Inuyasha groaned, "Look, I'm not looking for pity okay. I don't want you to be pitying me, pity doesn't do me or you any good at all." Inuyasha sighed again and looked at her again. "I'd lived with my dad, all my life, ever since I was little. I never really knew my mom at all. Postcards every now and again, but no real contact. It was okay though, we got along great and we were real close, my dad and me. And ever since I was little I wanted to be a doctor. I guess I always liked the idea of helping someone grow up. I wanted to be a pediatrician, treating little kids with colds and such, but being more than that, being that doctor whose your doctor all your life. It's all I ever wanted and my dad was a blue collar worker, and he worked hard so that I could pay for med school. He'd always introduce me to people saying, 'That's my son, he's gonna be a doctor some day, just you wait and see or have you met my son, the future Dr. Takashiro. He was really behind me, wanted to see me live out my dream. And I was on my way, I got into NYU's Medical school right here in New York. Got into my second year and everything was going great. We were living tight with the tuition and all, but that's life you know". Inuyasha paused for a moment and cleared his throat for a second before continuing. "And then um…well, my dad got diagnosed with prostate cancer and all. I dropped out of med school to take care of him and all, but he uh, he didn't make it. And then came the medical bills from the treatment and the bills from the funeral and all, plus rent on the apartment, and it wiped me out completely." Inuyasha stated his ears drooping at the memories as he chewed on his bottom lip.

Kagome had been silent for a long time gazing intently at Inuyasha. "Didn't you um…inherit money from your dad or anything?" she piped up asking quietly.

Inuyasha looked up at her again, "Hmm?" he asked. "Oh yeah, well some money and all. Medical bills, ironically, are expensive, as are funerals. All our saved money went into my tuition and such. And I was out of work dealing with everything that was going on and by the time I could actually work again after everything that happened no one would hire me, things got worse, I had bill collectors beating down my door until I lost the apartment and I ended up here".

"What about shelters or like a YMCA, they won't help you out?" Kagome asked taken aback completely.

"No, let's just say that discrimination is alive and well in today's world. They've made it quite clear that someone like me is not welcome at the shelters. I just need to wait it out though. Things will pick up, eventually I'll save some money, be able to get a job, get back into medical school, become a doctor.. for my dad." Inuyasha said his voice lined with just the faintest hint of optimism.

Kagome was shaken to the core. She couldn't believe what she was hearing, not in the slightest. She dropped her head, things were not so simple as she had originally believed. She clenched her hand in her lap and looked back at him, her eyes slightly teary. "How…" she began, but had to stop to clear her throat. "What… keeps you going, so optimistic?" she asked finally.

"Do you know what the best part of my day is, Kagome?" he asked her answering her question with another question. She shook her head no and he continued. "Nighttime" he said simply. "And why? Because I'm stuck here in this hell every moment that I'm awake. And because at night, I get to dream and go wherever I want, and see what I'm not in real life. And I see it in my mind in black and white what could be me some day. And I know I'm just some bum living on the streets of New York, but just for now" he finished. "Wow, that was a rant" he said chuckling a little bit.

He looked over at Kagome for the first time in awhile and noticed that she was crying. Moving close to her quickly he reached inside his coat and pulled out a handkerchief and offered it to her. "Hey, now I told you, no pity. No sense in that at all. Besides, someday soon, I'll be a doctor making all these important contacts, and I'm gonna be goddamn rich as hell, okay? And until the, I've got my dreams, huh?" he said softly.

Kagome gratefully accepted the handkerchief and dried her eyes on it, sure that it had smudged her mascara, but didn't really care. She let her hand fall into her lap, "It's not just that, I mean, I yelled at you too, and called you lazy. And, oh Inuyasha, I'm just sorry, and you saved me and all too" she said sniffling a little bit. "And I poked you in the chest too, I'm sorry for that" she added a little bit lamely.

Inuyasha scoffed a little bit, "Hey, listen, thanks for listening, okay. I wasn't exactly planning on laying all my problems on you, but it's good to have someone to listen every once in a while, and good to get it off my chest. Don't burden yourself with my problems though, okay?" he said looking at her.

She looked up at him, her hazel eyes still wet from the tears. "Is there anything I can do?" she asked him softly.

Inuyasha thought for a moment before responding. "Tell you what, if you ever see me on the street sometime, just drop in some change. More people tend to drop in, if they see others doing it too".

Kagome smiled and nodded, "I promise" she said looking him right in the eyes, and Inuyasha knew that she meant it.

Standing up again Inuyasha offered her his hand. "But now, it really is time for you to be getting back. Come on I'll walk you, no one will bother you if you have the crazy homeless guy walking with you" he said smiling.

She took his hand and pulled herself to standing, "Thanks, but I'll be fine. I've been more than a bother to you tonight, Inuyasha. I'll just call a cab or something, don't worry about me".

Inuyasha gave her a look, but nodded his head. "Well, I'll just walk with you until you do, okay?" he said and she nodded smiling again. He opened the door and the two stepped out into his alleyway. He showed her the way as they winded down his labyrinth of alleyway to the street silently. They stood on the corner silently only occasionally glancing at one another and smiling, not awkwardly, but completely comfortable and at ease. There were no cabs in sight on the street as they arrived and Kagome was just about to pout when Inuyasha brought his fingers to his lips and let out a sharp whistle that pierced the night air. Out of nowhere a cab appeared and drove towards them.

Doing a double take and giving him a bewildered look Kagome asked him, "How did you do that?"

Inuyasha gave her a wink and smiled cockily, "I'm a lifer, I know these streets like the back of my hand".

"You'll have to teach me that trick" she answered back.

"I'll even teach you how to hail one that's yellow or checked depending on the whistle" he said raising an eyebrow.

The cab pulled up and Kagome opened the door, but hesitated in getting inside. "Thank you for everything, Inuyasha, I'm glad to have met you. I'll see you around soon, I hope" she spoke her smile meeting her eyes.

"Likewise" Inuyasha said before leaning into the cab window and speaking to the driver. "Now, take this lady to…" he started before pulling back his head and talking to Kagome. "Where do you live anyway?" he asked her.

"Oh," Kagome said before sitting inside the cab and shutting the door, 119 West 23rd Street" she recited as if she'd been practicing saying it.

"Geez, you're a long ways off. How long were you walking?" Inuyasha said staring at Kagome in the back.

"I told you, I got lost" Kagome shot back.

"I'll say," Inuyasha jeered before turning back to the driver, "Well you heard her, 119 West 23rd Street, on the double" he said before withdrawing his head and banging on the top of the cab as it sped off into the night.

He saw Kagome turn back and wave to him as the cab pulled out of sight. He pulled out the five dollars and rolled it in his hand as he began walking in the other direction. "Big Mac, here I come" he said strolling off happily into the night whistling 'Put on a Happy Face'.

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On the cab ride home, Kagome did not speak to the cab driver, despite his few attempts at some small talk. She answered politely any time he said something, but other than that she had way to much on her mind. She couldn't help it, after an experience like the one she'd had tonight who could think about virtually anything else. After stopping off at an ATM to pay the driver, making sure she gave him a nice tip she made her way inside her apartment building. The night watchmen glanced up from the small color TV he was watching and gave her a nod before focusing back on the syndicated sitcom he was watching. Kagome sighed and hit the call button on the elevator absently shifting her weight and sucking on her bottom lip, something she always did when she was deep in thought. She didn't even remember entering the elevator or pressing the number to her top floor penthouse apartment, she was so deep in thought. It wasn't until after her nightly routine when she lay down in her big, soft, comfortable bed that she even realized fully where she was and it was enough to make her snap to a little bit. She lay down and put her arms underneath her pillow looking up at the sky as moon fall fell across her face.

"Inuyasha" she said softly into her pillow as she looked up at the moon. Her body ached with soreness and exhaustion. It had been a very long day physically and emotionally and eventually she drifted off into pleasant dreams.

Unfortunately, this peaceful slumber was rudely interrupted by her phone ringing loudly, alerting her that there was someone in dire need of talking to her at 10:13 AM on a Saturday morning. Kagome fumbled for her phone, knocking her clock radio to the floor before she grabbed the phone and brought the receiver to her ear. "Ummm" she mumbled into the mouth piece.

"Kagome, dear, it's your mother" the voice of Mrs. Higurashi said from the other end.

"Mmmom?" Kagome answered back struggling to sit upright and blinking sleep away from her eyes.

"Dear, you sound horrible, you should get more sleep" her mother's voice sounded into her ear.

"I WAS sleeping until you woke me up" Kagome said grumpily. "Mom, it's 10:15 on Saturday, why are you calling me this early" Kagome asked yawning and stretching. She was definitely not a morning person. Nor would she ever be a morning person. It was a simple fact of life that her mother had never learned about her daughter.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear, I'm just checking up on you. You never called me last night like you said you would" Mrs. Higurashi replied with enthusiasm.

Kagome threw the bedcovers off of her body which groaned in protest at the sudden lack of warmth covering it. She sat up and stifled another yawn as she put on her slippers and slipped on a pale pink bathrobe. "Oh, I'm sorry, mom. I had kind of a late night last night. I was really tired" Kagome answered making her way into the kitchen to prepare some breakfast for herself.

"Oh, late night, eh?" her mother replied suggestively into the phone. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

Kagome rolled her eyes, "Mom, no, get your mind out of the gutter, especially this early in the morning". She reached into the refrigerator and pulled out some orange juice, no pulp of course, and some one percent milk as well as cantaloupe. She pulled out a cutting board and a knife as she balanced the phone in her neck and shoulder and began preparing her breakfast.

"Don't roll you eyes at me, it's a legitimate question, you're a beautiful young woman living alone up there and I don't know these things" Mrs. Higurashi droned on.

Bewildered at how her mom had this uncanny ability to know these things about what she was doing Kagome responded back. "No, mom, I don't do those kind of things, you know that. Besides, I'm still single and I've been busy with work so I haven't had a lot of time for dating".

"I know I know dear, I just want to see you happy. A beautiful girl like you has so much to offer and I don't want to see you end up alone and single for the rest of your life" her mother said kindly.

"Mom, I'm 25, I think I still have a lot of time to meet someone" Kagome said monotone into the phone. She finished slicing the melon and stuck her index finger in her mouth to suck of the juice. "It's just, I'm still new and no one has asked me out yet" she answered moving to pour some cheerios into her cereal bowl.

"Have you tried showing off the goods?" her mother asked innocently.

"MOTHER!" Kagome yelled scandalized into the phone.

"Well, that does help dear. I mean, it attracts a man's attention, I mean I know that your father has a thing for my legs, so on our anniversary and such I always make sure to wear something that shows off…" Mrs. Higurashi started rambling.

"Mom, please don't talk to me about you and daddy's sex life. Can we please, PLEASE talk about something else" Kagome said bowing her head and putting her other hand on her forehead.

"All right fine dear, I'm sorry, I'm just trying to be helpful. Well, how are things going at the office dear. Any news on that promotion, yet?" her mom asked excitedly.

Kagome chewed a piece of melon carefully before answering. "Things are going well, very well. As for the promotion, I don't know, no news, it's the same story. The decision won't be made for another few months now until after the holidays."

"I know, you'll get it my dear. Undergraduate degree at Syracuse University, Masters at Yale, it'd just be so wonderful. I'm sorry, I'm gushing again, it's just dad and I are so proud of you dear" Mrs. Higurashi exclaimed cheerfully.

"Well, I would love it too mom, but I'm not the only one up for it, there's other people who have been working there longer than me. Plus, it's a job that puts you in the eye of the public a lot, and the thing that everyone else has going for them is that they have spouses, children, some with grandchildren, and I don't think that Kagome Higurashi single female independent in NYC is necessarily what the company wants to put out there. And since my position is only experimental it might behoove me to work hard to get this promotion. Or at least that's the gist of it that I got from my boss, anyway" Kagome said taking a bite of cereal and chewing thoughtfully.

"All the more reason to get OUT there dear" Mrs. Higurashi responded exasperatedly.

"We're OFF that topic mother" Kagome retorted.

"I didn't bring it up dear, you did" her mother replied loftily.

Kagome was about to respond with something, but knew it was true. Damn, she hated it when her mother did that. "I know, mommy, I know".

"Well listen, if all else fails, just pick up a cute young med student from NYU. That ought to impress them" Mrs. Higurashi advised the mischief full in her voice again.

"Mother, that's…" Kagome started, but trailed off as an idea formed in her head, A wonderful idea, a wonderfully terrific idea. "Not such a bad idea mom" Kagome said slowly as a smile pulled on the corners of her mouth.

"It's not?" Mrs. Higurashi queried curious at why her daughter hadn't reprimanded her for the comment.

"I've got to go mommy, give my love to daddy. I'll call you soon" Kagome said suddenly.

"What, where are you going. Something for work dear?" Mrs. Higurashi asked confused.

"Something like that mom, I'll talk to you soon, bye now" Kagome said kissing into the phone before hanging it up. She sprinted into the bathroom to take a shower happily whistling "Put on a Happy Face" as the wheels in her head began turning and picking up speed as her idea began formulating fully until it had become a full fledged plan.

To be continued…

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And that is the conclusion of chapter II. Stay tuned for the next chapter, which may or may not take a little while to get up as I'm going back to school and thus I'll be a little busier, but I will continue none the less. So stay tuned for chapter III. Thanks all please read it and review it, it would be very much appreciated.

More words of wisdom from yours truly:

"If the opposite of pro is con, does that mean the opposite of progress is congress?"


	3. Ch 3: The Proposal

Okay, everyone, I'm back. I'm sorry there were no updates for the past…uh four months or so, but I've been extraordinarily busy. I'd just like to thank everyone for your absolutely fantastic reviews of my story. I promise to you, I will update this story much more often in the future as I have much more free time to do so. And so, without further ado, I present to you, the small fan base anticipated next chapter of "At Night".

**Chapter III: The Proposal**

Kagome Higurashi was a woman on a mission. What exactly that mission was at the present time even her own mind could not exactly say. Her plan was formulating so rapidly in her head that her conscious mind hadn't quite caught up with her physical body. Her physical self, which was carrying her forth to said plan at the moment and her subconscious mind seemed to be quickly deciding and delegating to her body what needed to be done at this exact moment in time. She recollected showering, getting dressed and made up, then leaving her apartment in an almost sprint like she was being pursued by some fearsome predator. Once again, she wasn't quite sure what she was doing, or where she was finding the nerve to do so as she rushed along the streets of Manhattan not exactly sure where her legs were taking her. Most people on the street did not give her a second glance as she zipped through the concrete jungle. They did give her strange looks because she was still humming "Put on a Happy Face" rather loudly even above the noise of New York construction and traffic. Since, her mind would not tell her exactly where she was going she decided maybe she could guess from the street signs. They read "2nd Avenue", "3rd Avenue" and continued to ascend. Her plan hit her like a ton of bricks as she reached 5th Avenue and Madison. She stopped suddenly causing several angry "HEYS!" and "WATCH IT LADY" from the aggravated New Yorkers who had nearly smashed into her because of the abrupt stopped. She glanced up at the street sign catching her breath and wondering if she had the nerve to do what her mind had just told her "the plan" was.

"Is there a Plan B?" she asked herself.

"None, whatsoever" her head answered smartly back.

Kagome took a deep breath and began walking slowly up Madison Avenue. Now her fear started to get the best of her. Finding him would be next to impossible in this city. It was enormous. She didn't know what she was thinking.

"'Scuse me sir any spare change you might" came a familiar voice.

"_DAMN_" she mentally cursed or she thought was mental, but turned out to be quite verbal as she attracted a few stares from some tourists holding maps, but no other glances as Kagome looked around sheepishly. The New Yorkers however continued on their way as hearing profanity shouted on the streets was apparently not an uncommon occurrence. Glancing up ahead of her and still cursing her good or bad luck depending on the way you looked at it she saw Inuyasha sitting in the same place he had been yesterday. She had not told him, but she did remember him from earlier the day before and had hoped that he might frequent this section of the city. She slowly approached Inuyasha who had not yet noticed her. She tried to be nonchalant about it as she came closer, but could feel the heat rising to her cheeks with every step she took. She sidled up next to Inuyasha who still didn't' seem to notice her and cleared her throat.

"Spare change, miss?" Inuyasha replied looking straight ahead of him.

Kagome frowned and cleared her throat again, adding a little 'ahem' at the end.

"Spare a dim, sir?" Inuyasha continued looking at a man who passed by and dropped a few coins into his McDonalds cup. "Thank you very much" he smiled shaking the coins in his cup and happily listening to them jangle.

Kagome let out a frustrated sigh and continued to clear her throat leaning in Inuyasha's direction until a passerby stopped reached into his pocket to get something and held out his hand. "Cough drop?" he asked kindly.

Startled Kagome whirled around at the man speaking to her, "Oh, no thank you" she said not forgetting her manners and turning back to Inuyasha who was still seated on his box attempting to collect spare change from the odd passerby.

"Are you sure?" queried the man further. "It sounds like you need one; you're hacking up a storm".

Kagome turned and gave the insistent man a slightly strained smile, "No, thank you, I am perfectly fine" she said once again turning back to the task at hand.

"I don't know. I'd take the cough drop if I were you. It's getting cold and you don't want the flu or something creeping up on you…"the man started babbling.

"WILL YOU GET OFF MY CASE, I DON'T WANT YOUR FUCKING COUGH DROP" Kagome shouted at the poor man, who startled began to walk quickly down Madison Avenue muttering under his breath about how ungrateful people were today and glancing back on occasion to look back at Kagome. Still slightly frustrated Kagome gave the man her best "Look of Death" causing him to actually cross the street to put just a little more distance between him and the loud shouting girl.

"Jeez, Miss Higurashi, could you not shout please, you're scaring everyone away" Inuyasha said still looking out and jangling his cup of coins to the pedestrians. He turned his head to a side angle and looked up at her, "Good Morning, Kagome" he said nodding his head an amused smirk lining his features.

Kagome snapped back to reality to look down at Inuyasha smirking up at her. "Well, I was trying to…but the man…cough drops…and I was 'ahem'-ing …but you…didn't…thingy" Kagome blathered out nonsensically.

"I know, I saw" Inuyasha replied apparently able to read her ramblings and shaking his cup as a woman passed by without acknowledging him, and he waved her off with his free hand.

"If you knew I was here why didn't you say anything?" she asked him slightly agitated putting her hands on her hips and tapping her foot.

Inuyasha grinned and rested his cheek on his fist. "All you needed to do was say 'hello' or 'good morning' perhaps even a 'hello Inuyasha', 'ahem'ing at people as you put, it isn't very nice.

Kagome blanched, but brushed it off, she was on a mission, and despite this man whom she had only met yesterday's decision to be difficult with her, she would have her way. She shook her head vigorously as if to reset and start again. "That's not important right now" she said a little louder than she had meant to.

Inuyasha winced, but didn't mention the volume of Kagome's voice. "It's not?" he asked continued slightly confused by this very strange woman's behavior.

"No, it's not" Kagome sighed exasperatedly her tone indicating that was wanted some kind of response or answer from Inuyasha.

A few awkward moments of silence later Inuyasha piped in. "So, you want what exactly?" he asked confused.

Kagome opened her mouth as if to speak, but closed it again. Now that he'd asked her full out what she wanted she needed to go over in her mind exactly how she was going to ask him this…highly embarrassing request now that she thought about it. Color crept into her cheeks as she started talking. "Well, um…I have a proposition for you" she said finally finding the correct words.

"A proposition?" Inuyasha asked slowly with a hint of suspicion in his voice.

"Yes, a business proposition" Kagome said half whispered.

"A business proposition?" Inuyasha repeated with the same degree of suspicion laced into his tone.

"Yes, Mr. Polly the repeating Parrot, a business Pro-po-si-tion" she replied stressing the syllables of the last word.

"Polly the what?" Inuyasha asked, confused.

Kagome gave him a confused look, "It's the bird, the electronic one that repeats…never mind, look can I talk to you somewhere more private?" Kagome asked pleadingly.

"Um, I'm kind of busy right now, it's my peak hours…so to speak anyway" Inuyasha said skeptically.

"Please" Kagome pleaded again, "It'll only take a second and if you reject it, that's fine…and if you do reject it I'll give you another five bucks to make up for your time. Sound worth it?" Kagome explained quickly.

Inuyasha answered her by standing up and indicating with his head to stand in the juncture between a nearby stoop and the wall of one of the buildings. Kagome followed to the place he'd indicated and stood waiting for a moment. "Shoot" Inuyasha said ready to listen.

"Well, as you know, yesterday, you saved my life" Kagome started out.

"Yeah, so…I don't see why this has anything with..."Inuyasha interrupted only to be silenced by Kagome's hand.

"Shh," she shushed raising her hand up to Inuyasha's mouth level. "Just let me start this way, okay" she said still trying to find the words to explain this to him, without totally humiliating herself. "You see…I think we could help each other out. I propose…" she stammered, "a mutually beneficial contract to facilitate the propagation and advancement of our chosen professions" Kagome spoke as professionally and eloquently as possible avoiding eye contact with Inuyasha.

"Now for the rest of us, who did not memorize the Webster's English dictionary," Inuyasha said still confused gesticulating with his left hand in a "get to the point fashion".

Kagome sighed in aggravation, this was much harder to get out then she ever imagined. She made the mental decision to simply come out with what it was she had been trying to convey for the past five minutes or so. "As I told you last night, my company transferred me here a few months ago and I'm right now vying to keep my job, basically. I need to become the public face of Whytecrosse Advertising and I need…well a running mate of sorts. Like I said, it's a public oriented job, and what the company wants to see is stable relationship, serious commitment type relationship people so that the" she spoke this next part as if reciting it 'modern day consumer feels as though they can personally relate to our spokesperson'. In short, I need you to pretend to be my …well boyfriend for awhile. Just until I get the promotion ensuring my future here. Then you can do whatever you want" Kagome finished, looking Inuyasha in the face, trying to get a read on what he was thinking, but finding it altogether impossible.

"Why me?" he asked simply.

"What do you mean?" she replied.

"I mean, why me? I'm not exactly the pick of the litter, no pun intended. I mean…for god sakes…" he indicated himself and his dirty clothes and looking back at her incredulously.

"Oh, well obviously I'd clean you up a bit…clothes, a haircut and all of that" she said hoping that it would be enticing enough to make him say yes.

"I just don't know, Kagome, I mean thank you and all, but you could get anyone to do this for you. I just don't see why you would want to go through all this trouble. It sounds like the plot to a bad romance novel" Inuyasha scoffed.

"You're the first real person I've met since I've moved here. Besides there's one other thing…"Kagome continued, "I'll put you back in med school".

Inuyasha's ears perked up at this and he looked her dead in the eyes. "Don't joke about something like that" he said seriously.

"I'm not. I'm serious; I'll pay for it all. Tuition, books, the whole thing," Kagome replied keeping her gaze steady.

"Are you crazy…do you have any idea how much money that is…I couldn't let you do that" Inuyasha said preparing to move away from her, but was stopped by her hand on his shoulder.

"I owe you enormously for saving my life last night. And trust me when I say, it's pocket change for me. I'm not trying to brag or anything, but you get my point. And…call it an investment to help out one of New York's future paramount pediatrician" she said smiling kindly.

Inuyasha couldn't believe his ears, what he was hearing. With a chance meeting, and an enormous act of kindness his entire future was certain again. All he had to do was say yes.

"No" he said firmly.

"What do you mean no?" Kagome practically shouted her face changing back to one of extreme frustration again.

"I wasn't finished…if I agree to do this, I have to be able to pay you back the money you're 'investing' and you only help me out, until I get a job and I can pay on my own…financial aid and all of that" he said quite seriously, but unable to keep the excitement from filtering through his normally stoic eyes. "Deal?" he asked extending his clawed hand out to her.

Kagome rolled her eyes and gave him another smile, her mood switching again in the course of about two seconds. "Deal" she said taking her hand and his and giving it a firm shake.

Inuyasha allowed himself a lopsided grin. "This still sounds like the plot to a bad romance novel to me" he teased a little bit.

Kagome giggled slightly at his comment and motioned for him to follow her as she walked back down Madison Avenue. "It's not like a bad romance novel, if it was a bad romance novel, we would have names like Darien and Catherine, not Kagome and Inuyasha. Now come on" she said hurrying down the street.

Inuyasha smirked again as he thought about the truth of that statement. Snapping back to reality he did a double take on the cup in his hand and Kagome's retreating form. He slowly put the cup down on the stoop of the building he'd been standing near for some other homeless person to find. He hadn't realized it would be this difficult to let it go, as it had been a large part of his life for the past few years. He smiled though at the thought of what was to come as he turned away form it. Seeing the distance Kagome had made on him already he had a quick 'oh shit' moment before bolting after her, catching up with only a few seconds later. "So where are we off to now" he asked.

"My place…it's my favorite part…it's makeover time" Kagome said smirking at Inuyasha.

"Slash, making the smelly guy shower and shave?" he asked raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah, but makeover just sounds better. New clothes, shower, and shave all that fun stuff" she said bubbling.

"So it's like Pretty Woman…does that make you Richard Gere and me Julia Roberts?" he asked.

"No…you're a guy, so you'd be Richard Gere and I'd be Julia Roberts" she said still walking ahead of him.

"Except you're paying for me to stay, so I'd be Julia Roberts, apparently" he said thinking it over in his head. "Minus the sex, of course" he added as an afterthought.

Kagome blushed, but not for Inuyasha to see. "Yes, minus the sex" she said quickly. This was the second time today that her sex life had been brought up. Eager to change the subject and remove her embarrassment she added teasingly, "You're okay with being Julia Roberts in this then?"

Inuyasha did in fact notice the blush in fact, but amused, decided to let it go. "Oh, absolutely Julia Roberts has legs for days. I've got no complaints" he countered cheekily.

Kagome just laughed, happy at the positive outcome of her proposal and the ease with which she was able to converse with which their conversation came. She supposed that had something to do with last night, him saving her, her screaming at him, and him revealing a lot about his past. She smiled happily to herself. She couldn't help herself as the final words of Humphrey Bogart from the movie "Casablanca", one of her favorite movies went through her head. "This looks like the start of a beautiful friendship".

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Twenty minutes and several blocks later Inuyasha found himself in the living room of Kagome's posh west side penthouse apartment. Chic was the word, he had chosen. He gazed around still afraid to sit down for risk of ruining the beautiful chairs and couches with his dirty and shabby clothing. He was already feeling a little more self conscious than usual having run into some of the tenants of Kagome's apartment building already. He had climbed out of the elevator to be met with the confused and slightly disgusted look of Kagome's neighbor from down the hall an elderly woman with a Bichon Frise that yipped at him as he stepped out of the elevator. He greeted her kindly enough with a kind smile and tip of the hat. "Quiet duchess" the woman had said and whisked herself into the elevator without so much as a word to Inuyasha, but making sure to give a scandalized look to Kagome as the doors closed. Inuyasha continued smiling and waved as she left and then quickly flipped her the bird as the doors swished shut. They had entered inside the gorgeous corner apartment causing an assault on Inuyasha's senses. He had muttered a few choice expletives indicating his amazement as he personally had never been inside anywhere this nice in his entire life. It had made Kagome beam that she had impressed Inuyasha at least a little bit.

Now he was still standing glancing around at the interior of the apartment. He was beyond speech at sight of this place. Beautiful wall to wall carpeting in the bedrooms, gorgeous cherry hardwood floors with oriental rugs in the living room and dining room, and marble kitchen tiles with matching countertops. It was a far cry from his old place, which had the little black and white alternating hard plastic tiles in the kitchen. The white walls were adorned with photographs and a few paintings of fruit and the like. He glanced to his right as the natural light filtered in from the windows on the terrace onto the beautiful black, Steinway baby grand piano by the windows. There was also a fully stocked bar, and to his extreme delight one of the largest Sony Television's he'd ever seen in his life. Kagome had gone to find him some shampoo, towels, a razor, and so on telling him to make himself comfortable and that she'd be right back.

She returned to the living room with an armload of towels to see Inuyasha standing exactly where she had left him gazing around her apartment's interior. She leaned against the doorframe for a moment just watching him look around giving him another moment to believe she was alone before saying anything. She cleared her throat to get his attention and he glanced over to where she was standing grinning broadly. "Like it?" she asked him.

Inuyasha let out his breath on an skeptical "pfff" sound. "No, it's not really my style" Inuyasha spoke letting the sarcasm drip off of his tongue. "This place is just INFUCKINGCREDIBLE. I mean, you said that you know…money was no object, but this is…just…wow" Inuyasha said struggling for words.

Kagome just nodded a big grin on her face. "Well, I'm glad it meets with your approval" she giggled taking a few steps into the room. "Catch" she said tossing him the toiletries gently.

He caught them easily and held them in his hands for a moment. He brought the fluffy red towel to his nose an inhaled deeply the fresh scent of laundry detergent and fabric softener. It had been such long time since he had smelled that scent, or held clean things in his hands. Shaking his head to free himself of such thoughts he turned back to Kagome. "Phase one begins…where's the bathroom" he asked smiling again.

"Up the stairs, second door on the right" Kagome said pointing him in the right direction.

Inuyasha mounted the stairs mumbling to himself, "Two story apartment…riDICulous"

Kagome laughed again and playfully swatted him on the back as he passed by her. "Let me know if you need anything" she said walking to stretch out on her couch.

"Aye aye, cap'n, will do" Inuyasha said from above her. A moment later there was the creak of an opening door, a loud "Jesus H. Christ" and the same creak and click as the door shut, leaving Kagome giggling again to herself. She couldn't help it, he was like a kid in a candy store, he was too funny. Picking up a copy of Bram Stoker's "Dracula", (she had always been a girl of different tastes) picked up where she left off in the book and picked an apple out of the bowl of fruit on the coffee table. She took a big bite and the apple crunched resoundingly and began to read as she waited for Inuyasha to emerge from upstairs so she could inspect the result.

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Upstairs in the bathroom Inuyasha took the time to examine all of the various things he'd been given. A towel and washcloth, soap, shampoo, conditioner disposable razor, shaving gel, toothbrush, toothbrush, toothpaste, and a comb. He lay the contents on the obsidian sink top and went to inspect the shower. He peered inside the sliding glass door to inspect the hot and cold water tabs and his gaze rose to the pulsating shower head. He snickered to himself for a moment, but pushed the thought from his head as he turned both the tabs on to let the water stream forth from the shower head. He turned around again clicking his tongue and picked up the towel, washcloth, soap, shampoo, and conditioner. He tossed the towel to the floor beside the shower, the washcloth inside the shower and placed the soap, shampoo and conditioner on the ledge of the bathtub. He shed his clothes quickly as the water temperature began to rise creating steam. He folded up his clothes and placed them neatly in a pile. He would wash them later.

He passed his hand under the stream of water to test the temperature, making a quick adjustment before stepping into the shower and under the stream, letting the water cascade over his body. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply through his nose letting the steam enter his lungs before breathing out again and opening his eyes again. After getting himself sufficiently wet he grasped hold of the shampoo, pouring a large quantity into his hand. He smirked to himself as he looked at the back of the shampoo bottle. "Lather…rinse…repeat…like riding a bicycle" he thought to himself before commencing to wash the years of grime from his body and mind all while singing a rousing chorus of '99 bottles of beer on the wall'.

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Two hours, 142 pages, and three apples later and Inuyasha was still not out of the bathroom. Although, he had made plenty of noise up there, he had not emerged. And although there had been no noise for awhile, it was that prolonged silence which now lead to Kagome standing outside the door to the bathroom, unsure of whether to interrupt the goings on in the bathroom. Finally, asserting to herself that two hours was far too long for a guy to be in a bathroom she tentatively knocked on the door. "Inuyasha? Are you okay in there?" she asked. After a long pause, there was no answer. So Kagome knocked a little more forcefully. "Inuyasha?" she asked again. Still no answer. "INUYASHA?" she said a little more fervently pounding on the door.

"WHAT?" came a voice from inside.

"YOU'VE BEEN IN THERE FOR TWO HOURS, ARE YOU OKAY?" she asked loudly.

"FINE, I'M ALMOST DONE. I'LL BE OUT IN A FEW" Inuyasha responded with equal volume to make it through the door.

"WHAT'S TAKING YOU SO LONG?" Kagome shouted through the door.

"I TAKE MY LATHER RINSING AND REPEATING SERIOUSLY. I'LL BE OUT IN A FEW, ALRIGHT?" Inuyasha responded.

"WELL, YOU'VE JUST BEEN IN THERE FOR SO LONG, YOU'VE HAD MORE THAN ENOUGH TIME, I WANT TO SEE THE RESULT ALREADY" Kagome said impatiently.

"HOLD YOUR HORSES. JUST WAIT" Inuyasha yelled.

"BUT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR OVER TWO HOURS" Kagome whined back through the door.

The door suddenly flew open and a hardly recognizable Inuyasha took a step into the hallway clad in only a towel. "Damn it woman I said I'm almost done, I still have a few things to do. Chill out for a bit. You try washing years of grime off of yourself in under two hours. Oh, by the way, do you have anything for me to wear other than this, because I don't think this would be much better in public." Inuyasha asked holding the towel up with one hand. "Kagome?" Inuyasha asked waving a hand in front of her face.

Kagome meanwhile, had been too shocked to say anything. Right in front of her eyes stood quite possibly not the same hanyou she had taken home with her. To put it mildly, Inuyasha cleaned up well, very well. Her eyes roved over his pristine figure, pecs, abs, biceps, you name it, he had them. His hair now shone like liquid silver hanging carefree off his shoulders. And now with the dirt washed away she could see his face clearly. To put it simply he was gorgeous, chiseled features with a strong jaw line. His eyes had initially caught her attention and now they sparkled as they seemed to look right into her. Kagome tore her gaze away after Inuyasha waved his hand in front of her face, realizing she'd been ogling the guy for a good ten seconds now. A dark crimson blush stained her cheeks as she tried to find words to speak and ask him to repeat himself as she had not heard a word he had said. And for the second time since she'd known Inuyasha and the second time in two days, she fainted dead away.

To be continued…

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And this is the conclusion of chapter III. Thank you everyone for being patient and hopefully still reading this. As it's summer, I will do my utmost to get more chapters up sooner before I have to go back to school. So please read and review and I will until then be working diligently on the fourth installment of my little story here. Thanks a bunch everyone who has read and reviewed so far, you've been fantastic.

Yet more words of wisdom from yours truly

"Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional"


	4. Ch 4: Cleaning Up Nice

Okay, I promised it would be out soon and that didn't exactly happen. I am adhering to the promise to update, however. For some reason this chapter took me FOREVER to write. Call it writers block because I wanted to write a fantastic chapter for you. Thanks again to all my reviewers and such, you guys are fantastic. And now, exactly what you've been waiting for the fourth installment of At Night.

**Chapter IV: Cleaning Up Nice**

"That's the second time in two days" Inuyasha thought to himself as he picked up Kagome's inert form. She was just as light as he'd remembered her being. He was not sure whether his male ego deserved a boost or severe deflation. He pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind so that he did not trip on the staircase while carrying Kagome downstairs to the couch. He felt his way down the carpeted staircase with his foot, slowly, leaning back slightly so should he slip, he would land soundly on his rear, hopefully saving Kagome from falling. Reaching the downstairs he entered into the living room and setting her down carefully on the couch. He brushed his hands off on his towel and orienting himself towards the kitchen made his way there. Once there he gathered a dish towel and some ice cubes from the freezer and wrapped the ice cubes in the towel. He padded his way back to the living room, makeshift ice pack in one hand. He approached the still prone form of Kagome and placed it gently on her forehead eliciting a sharp intake of breath from her and some movement. Slowly, her eyes flitted open, much the same way as they had yesterday and in a moment of pure déjà vu, things took a turn. Inuyasha had been smiling gently down at her, but quickly changed to one of intense pain as one of Kagome's patented extraordinarily loud and high pitched screams reached his ears.

"Don't come any closer, you sick bastard" Kagome shouted at Inuyasha bolting upright, sending the towel and ice scattering on the floor, and scooting as far away from him on the couch as possible. She immediately regretted this decision as her head began to pound and throb from where she had bumped her head.

Now, as ironic as this may seem, Inuyasha had to envision himself in her situation, where a strange half naked man was crouching closely to you as you just came to from previously blacking out. So he responded in the kindest and most sensitive way that he could. "Ah, stupid wench, don't scream so loud, it's just me" an angry Inuyasha screamed back at her.

Kagome who had been clasping her forehead painfully blinked a few times as realization dawned on her. "Oh…god…Inuyasha, I'm sorry, you just surprised me…again, that's all. I didn't mean to scream…but…what happened?" she asked still slightly oblivious to the events that had taken place.

Inuyasha rubbed his sensitive ears tenderly contemplating whether or not the reward he was getting would be worth the irreparable ear damage he would undoubtedly be getting. "Agh, you scream like a banshee, woman, you know that?" Inuyasha said giving her a bit of a hard time. Upon seeing the indignant look upon her face and what looked was to be a feminist rant on sexual equality and chauvinism quickly answered her question. "You fainted when I came out of the bathroom. I'm guessing that means I pass inspection?" Inuyasha said charmingly crossing his arms over his chest and smirking.

Kagome indeed had been about to berate him for calling her both a "banshee" and for calling her "woman", but did not have the opportunity due to his continuation. Kagome's response was to shake her head furiously from side to side, before realizing once again that this was a bad idea with a headache and blushing furiously. "No, it's not that…you just…the door opened…and there was all that steam and I just got a little overheated that's all" Kagome said coming up with a plausible excuse to save her at least a little bit of face from her own admittance of what was possibly the real reason.

Inuyasha smirked happily sensing that she was lying to him, but decided not to press the issue and to simply store it in his memory and chalk one up for self-esteem. "I see, I see" he said not giving away too much that he didn't believe her. He picked up the dish towel and the collected the ice from the carpet before it melted. Placing them back into the dish towel he handed it over to Kagome. "Keep that pressed on your forehead; you took a pretty nasty bump on the head".

Kagome gratefully took the cold towel from him and pressed it on her head. She leaned back hissing sharply at the icy coldness of the towel. "Did you learn that in medical school?" she asked jokingly, eyes closed as she lay down.

"No, that would be common sense, actually" Inuyasha said earning a one eyed look from Kagome. "Just kidding, calmate', woman" he smirked.

Kagome closed her eyes again, "Don't call me, woman. It's degrading" she said trying to get comfortable.

"Well what should I call you?" Inuyasha asked settling on the edge of the couch.

"You could try my name, that was working for awhile now wasn't it" Kagome said opening her eyes.

"Yeah, but we're 'dating' now. So shouldn't I come up with some kind of pet name or something?" he asked fully amused by himself at the moment.

"If you must. Darling, sweetie, and goddess divine should do nicely" Kagome said grinning broadly and stretching. Inuyasha did not respond, he was staring at her intently for a moment. Kagome noticed this and raised her left eyebrow curiously. "What?" she asked propping herself up on her elbows.

"Chipmunk" he said pointing at her, a calm serious expression on his face. He nodded his head a few times as if to affirm it. "Yeah, chipmunk…that's it."

"Chipmunk?" Kagome asked him in disbelief.

"Yeah, Chipmunk" Inuyasha confirmed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kagome asked slightly offended.

"What? That's a compliment. You look like a chipmunk." Inuyasha said nodding his head. "In a good way" he added seeing Kagome's slightly angered and hurt expression.

"Yeah, but why?" she asked still a little agitated at his choice in "cute pet name".

"Well, that will add some mystery to our relationship. I'll call you chipmunk and every time I do, you'll wonder why and it will add to mystery, like a real relationship. What you prefer me to call you, woman or wench? Those names could work too" Inuyasha said smirking and lacing his fingers together.

Kagome rolled her eyes sarcastically slightly put off by the suggestion, but figuring that the first choice was better than the latter. "Okay, fine, whatever" she conceded.

"So I can call you woman?" Inuyasha teased.

"No" Kagome said, "You can call me…you can call me chipmunk" Kagome said begrudgingly.

"Well as much fun as these past few minutes have been, I'm starting to get cold. Do you have clothes for me to change into?" Inuyasha asked Kagome standing up and indicating that he was still clad in a towel.

"Oh" was Kagome's reply as she, remembering to get up slowly this time, rose to her feet. Realization hit Kagome like that proverbial "ton of bricks". She gritted her teeth, "Um, not exactly. I hadn't really planned this far ahead" she confessed shifting her weight from one leg to the other. "I'll go get you some though, right now, what are you a size…" Kagome trailed off as she approached Inuyasha, mumbling to herself and quickly as she walked around Inuyasha examining him from all angles. "Got it, make yourself at home, take whatever you want from the fridge, just be here when I get back. I won't be gone long" Kagome said as she quickly grabbed her coat and keys and strode at the door, leaving a confused Inuyasha standing in the middle of her living room.

He was shocked that she would trust to leave him alone in her apartment as she had known him for only a short amount of time, but the circumstances in which they met were extraordinary. Furthermore, the business proposition she had made to him required this kind of unconditional trust between the two of them. He didn't waste time dwelling on it though. She had just told him to help himself to whatever he wanted out of her refrigerator. She obviously had not been in many relationships because to give a guy a free pass to your refrigerator was just plain not smart. He raised his eyebrows a few times a la John Belushi and jogged to the kitchen. Stopping his forward momentum suddenly he slid across the tiles to stop perfectly still in front of the refrigerator. He rubbed his hands together in anticipation. He flung the door open with flourish and gazed upon the contents of the refrigerator. For the first time in a long while, Inuyasha was unsure of what he was going to eat. Usually, it was a fairly simple process of taking his change to a McDonalds or Taco Bell if he was feeling like being exotic for a change of pace. However, now he was confronted for free with not only the neatest, cleanest, refrigerator he had seen in the expanse of his life, but the most expansive assortment of food he had laid eyes on for the past five years. There was roast beef, turkey, bologna, chicken, liverwurst (ick, ick, ick) if that happened to tickle his fancy, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, provolone cheese, and about two others he'd never heard of before. After staring at the contents of the refrigerator, his face a mask of concentration, as if this was truly a life or death decision for a good five minutes, carefully looking from food item to food item he came to a conclusion that made him break into an ear to ear grin. He couldn't believe he had almost forgotten about it. He rubbed his hands in anticipation as he carefully searched to interior to see if all the ingredients were present letting out a sigh of relief when he realized that it was all there. He carefully gathered possibly every type of meat in refrigerator, lettuce, tomatoes, various condiments including, mustard, ketchup, blue cheese salad dressing, and relish and laid them on the counter. Then after raiding the cupboard he found some French bread to his delight and took that too. Granted, she had said that he could have anything in the "refrigerator" and this was expanding her offer to the kitchen, but he assumed it was implied.

Separating everything out he began assembling his favorite food in the world what was known to him as the "Inuyasha Triple Decker Man Sandwich of Extreme Indigestion" or "ITDMSEI" for short. For Inuyasha it was the only edible creation on this planet that guaranteed you would have indigestion for three hours fourteen minutes and thirty seven seconds exactly from the moment you swallowed the last bite of sandwich to exactly three hours fourteen minutes and thirty seven seconds after that bite of sandwich was finished. However, it was also perhaps the most fantastically wonderful tasting sandwich in the existence of mankind. And after the initial fifteen minute assembly and ceremonial placing of the tomatoes Inuyasha was ready. First however, as was polite he returned all the ingredients neatly to that gleaming wonderful portal from whence they came, got himself a glass of tap water and sat down to enjoy the "ITDMSEI". As he inhaled his food he reflected on his recent good fortune. It had been less than twenty four hours past that he had been hungry, cold, dirty, and without much of a future to speak of and suddenly this girl had seemingly imposed herself into his life. She was perhaps both the strangest and most unabashedly determined person he'd met. He paused his thoughts for a moment as he took a large bite of the sandwich and closed his eyes in pure ecstasy. It had been such a long time since he'd enjoyed food such as this. She certainly seemed to have a great amount of trust in him. He supposed that since he had saved her and shared extremely personal aspects of his life with her that they were past the point of awkward "getting to know you crap". It was just comfortable, already. And that was the way he liked it. Obviously, he knew practically nothing about her, but still… Inuyasha shook his head vigorously to clear his head of these serious thoughts. He didn't feel like being reflective at the moment, he felt like enjoying himself. He took a large bit of the sandwich to affirm this fact.

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Exactly three hours fourteen minutes and thirty seven seconds later…

Kagome unlocked the door to her apartment and struggled to get inside clutching the numerous bags she was carrying. She balanced the handle of the bags on her wrists as she turned the doorknob with the limited mobility she had and then opening the door, holding it open with her leg as she bent down to pick up the bags she had set down to open the door in the first place. Exhausted, she hurled the bags inside the apartment and threw her coat, keys, and purse down on a nearby chair. "Inuyasha?" she called picking the bags up again grudgingly and hobbling into the apartment. Not receiving a response she called out again. Getting slightly anxious and frustrated she moved inside. He hadn't left, had he? She shook her head. He couldn't have done that, she'd locked the door when she'd left. She entered her living room to see Inuyasha passed out on the couch asleep, with a plate nearby from what had appeared to be a sandwich at one point.

He was still clad in a towel, but had a blanket wrapped around him, thankfully. She sighed and shook her head in amusement. She dropped the bags again on the floor content with their present location. For all she cared they could stay there until someone other than herself decided to move them, a.k.a Inuyasha. She glanced over at him, apparently sleeping peacefully. His lips were drawn across his face in a not quite a smile as he slept. One of the ears twitched rapidly on occasion as he breathed rhythmically. She regarded him quietly for a moment as an evil Cheshire cat like smile spread slowly across her face. She figured that now was about time she leveled the playing field so to speak. Kagome bent down and removed her shoes and in stocking clad feet, crept silently to the couch and behind it. She noted how peaceful he seemed in innocent slumber before shattering it entirely by yelling his name loudly in his ear.

Inuyasha's reaction was not mild to say the least. He bolted up screaming loudly, "AH, WHAT THE HELL? WHERE'S THE FIRE?" He leapt straight up in the air and landed perfectly balanced on the back of the couch. His eyes darted frantically around the room jumping up on the couch, claws outstretched as if expecting to be attacked from all sides. Kagome's bright peals of laughter brought him back into the room. Inuyasha dropped his arms rolling his eyes and glaring at Kagome as she continued laughing hysterically. "That's not funny you know" Inuyasha said feeling the back of his neck get hot and a blush stain his cheeks.

Kagome held one hand on her stomach while she brought her right hand up to cover her mouth waving it in a 'give me second to compose myself' manner. She tried several times to calm herself down and speak and managed to quiet her giggles for a moment, but as soon as she opened her mouth again burst into fresh fits of laughter. After a solid minute of this she finally calmed down enough to remain silent, only the occasional odd chuckle escaping from her mouth.

Inuyasha glared at her for a moment before speaking. "You done?" he asked not amused.

Kagome nodded her head vigorously eyes wide with absolute sincerity although her cheeks puffed every once in awhile still controlling the laughter. She absently smoothed the folds of her skirt as if trying to seem modest and innocent. "Yes, I'm done now" she said closing her eyes and nodding her head.

"What was that for? I was asleep after some very painful indigestion" Inuyasha said indignantly sitting back down on the couch.

"Call it a little payback" Kagome said raising her left eyebrow and leaning forward to come eye level with him. "M'kay Pumpkin?" she asked sickly sweet.

"Pumpkin?" Inuyasha retorted mirroring Kagome's eyebrow raise.

"Yeah. Pumpkin. Didn't you decide that pet names were the first thing we needed? So you call me Chipmunk. You're Pumpkin." Kagome countered.

"I gave you alternatives. Don't I get any?" Inuyasha asked slightly put off by the thought of being referred to as 'Pumpkin'.

"No, you'll have to forgive me. I'm not as creative as you." Kagome answered loftily as she plunked down on the couch beside him.

"Don't you work for an advertising company or something? Don't they PAY you to be creative?" Inuyasha asked smugly.

"Are you paying me to be creative, I don't think so. Now get up, and try on the clothes I bought. I have to make sure they fit, chop, chop." she said jumping up off the couch and clapping her hands and indicating the bags sprawled across her living room.

Inuyasha rose reluctantly to his feet and grabbed the first bag. "Touché" he scoffed as he threw the bag over his shoulder and proceeded up the stairs to the bathroom to change his clothes.

"Oh, and Inuyasha." Kagome called to him causing him to turn around and glance down from the staircase. "You scream like a girl" she said to him as she sauntered away to the kitchen swinging her hips from side to side.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, but smiled and chuckled to himself as he jogged up the stairs to try on his new clothes.

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Inuyasha looked good. In fact, he looked really good. In his entire life he couldn't remember ever looking this good. His clothes had always been cheap or hand me downs. What was the phrase? Clothes make the man? He certainly felt that way. He looked at himself in the mirror, fiddling with the rolled sleeves of his shirt and the collar to his shirt. He attempted a debonair smile, but was his reflection in the mirror only told him that it was something he needed to work on as he seemed to have only made himself look slightly constipated. He shook his head, trying a new look. Perhaps, 'debonair' wasn't him. He unbuttoned the first few buttons on the collared shirt and mussed his hair a little bit, attempting the "bad boy look". It worked a little bit better, but not much. He sighed and decided that girls were more suited to tell him how to wear these clothes.

Kagome had certainly gone above and beyond for him again. She'd gone and basically bought him the Men's Section of J-Crew. He had never even been to J-Crew in his life. He'd never been able to afford it. The closest he had been to being inside one was once, about six years back, he had seen a billboard for one in Times Square. As he recalled it had been a very nice billboard. And in his own personal opinion, he put that model on the billboard to shame.

A knock on the door shook him from his thoughts and he glanced up to hear Kagome's voice. "Are you ready yet? You take longer than me to get ready. Now come on out so I can see how they fit. I had to guess on your sizes" Kagome said through the door.

Inuyasha smirked and replied, "You sure? I don't want you to faint again".

Kagome was glad the door was closed so that he could not see the redness lining her features. "That had NOTHING to do with you. It was the steam from your shower made me dizzy, that's ALL" Kagome fumed although a nagging voice in the back of her head told her that she was lying to herself.

"You know, De-NILE ain't just a river in Egypt" Inuyasha teased.

"Yeah well…"Kagome answered searching for a decent comeback. "Ditto" she answered lamely. She crossed her arms in frustration, she HATED that she couldn't come up with decent comebacks to his teasing. She tapped her foot irritably before speaking up again. "Look are you going to come out here?"

"Yeah, hang on, I'm coming, I'm coming." Inuyasha called giving himself a once over in the mirror before opening the door.

Kagome took a step back from the bathroom to allow him out of the bathroom and to give herself a good look at him.

Stepping out of the bathroom he was met with Kagome's appraising gaze. She twirled her right index finger indicating he should turn around for her. He complied and found himself feeling stupid as he turned in a slow circle. Then meeting her again, she was looking at him, arm folded across her middle and the other resting in the crook of her elbow. She was concentrating on him fiercely. After a few moments of precarious silence, Inuyasha broke it. "What?" he simply asked as he raised his arms and let them fall to his sides with a slap. This seemed to bring Kagome out of her concentration and she looked him in the face and smiled.

"Not bad Inuyasha, you clean up nice" she said bubbly. "Do they fit okay?"

"Yeah, these are comfy" Inuyasha said approvingly.

"And…you like how they look and all?" Kagome asked suddenly nervous.

Inuyasha looked surprised at her suddenly fearful face, afraid that the clothes had not met his approval. "No, I hate them" mocked Inuyasha. "Come on, Kagome. These are the nicest clothes I've ever owned. They're great, stop worrying so much" Inuyasha said shaking his head.

Kagome beamed brightly, "Really? Great, because you really do look great, you know. I chose wisely" she said congratulating herself.

"Well hurray for all that is you" Inuyasha said while giving a mock bow and walking down the stairs.

"Hey wait a minute. You still have clothes to try on" Kagome said following him down the stairs.

"Can't. I've got things to do" Inuyasha said jumping the last three steps and continuing walking.

Kagome stopped in her tracks and stared at the retreating form of the hanyou. "Like what?" she asked jumping the last three steps as well and pursuing him. She jogged to catch up with him. When she got no response she stopped hands on hips. "HEY" she practically yelled at him.

Inuyasha jumped at the sound of her voice. "WHAT?" he responded with equal volume. "Geez, you can yell. You'd make an excellent sports announcer".

"I was talking to you" Kagome responded. "Where do you have to go in such a hurry?"

Inuyasha grinned widely. "I've got to go sign up for Med school. Be back soon" he said.

Kagome was about to protest, but seeing Inuyasha's eyes light up she didn't have the heart to say no. However, that did not mean she had to like it fully. Trying to look agitated she sighed. Whirling around she grabbed something from a table near the door. "Well, here" she said slapping the item into his hand.

Looking in his hand, Inuyasha saw that she had given him a key. "Spare key?" he queried.

"Duh" was Kagome's simple response.

"Oh, how mature. Seems awful sudden though. I don't know if I can accept, I mean, we just met. Next thing you know you're going to want to jump my bones. I'm not that kind of guy. I need to be romanced" Inuyasha said dramatically.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Just GO, before I change my mind, okay?"

"You can do that?" Inuyasha responded again.

"Oh, ha ha ha, so funny. Maybe you should be comedian" Kagome said throwing a new coat at his face.

Inuyasha caught it with one hand and nodded approvingly. It was black leather, in a very preppy way to fit his new style. He snapped the tag off with one of his clawed fingers and slung it over his shoulder. "Sorry, but my talents are only so many" he replied opening the door. "See you in a bit, Chipmunk" he said ducking out and shutting the door before she could respond.

Kagome stuttered for a minute and stamped the floor like a child. She did not know how this man could be so disarmingly charming one moment and so unbelievably agitating the next. She sank onto her couch with a sigh throwing a hand over her face. She did not know how she got herself into this. 'It was your idea' her conscious reminded her loftily. If she could have glared at her conscious she would have. She peered through t he slats in her fingers at the ceiling fan which was making whirring noises as it spun around. Now that all the "excitement" had worn off nagging doubt slipped into her mind. She had simply acted without thinking again. Just like she had just up and agreed to come to New York when her company had offered. And now, her job, and future were in the hands or claws, or whatever, of an Inu-Hanyou who had no idea what he was in for.

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So there you go, Chapter IV complete. I hope it was enjoyable. I tried, I really tried. Now, assuming that I don't have the same difficulties writing the next chapter, it should be out much sooner. I make no promises, or guarantees of any kind, but as long as you wonderful peoples stick with it and want me to continue, I promise I will get it out ASAP. Love to all my readers

StarvingArtistinNY

Continued Words of Wisdom from Me:

"There's no point driving yourself insane trying to stop yourself going insane. You might just as well give in and save your sanity for later.


	5. Ch 5: Getting the Ball Rolling

How lucky are all of you. Two updates in less than a week. I started writing this next chapter immediately after I posted the last one. Partially because I was not thoroughly satisfied with how the last chapter came out, but also I want to get as much of this story finished before I get too busy. Mainly because I know that this is the most difficult part of the story for me to write. The next bits of the story are a bit clearer in this little old head of mine and I have some interesting ideas. To answer probably some questions I have literally no idea how long this is going to be. We will find out. And so my loyal fans the fifth installment of At Night.

**Chapter V: Getting the Ball Rolling  
**

Inuyasha had been standing in front of the admissions office of NYU's Medical School for at least a half an hour. Looking up at the carved stone of the building he let out a frustrated growl attracting the attention of several students nearby. He huffed at them irritably and muttered 'freshmen' under his breath. He was pissed off and he didn't know why. He glared at a stone carving of a gargoyle on the side of the building and made a face at it. Okay, perhaps pissed off wasn't the correct word, but frustrated perhaps. Inuyasha made a face. No, not that, he was feeling…apprehensive.

That he did know the answer to. He clicked his tongue and nervously shifted his weight from foot to foot trying to build up some confidence. His confidence had dissipated of the walk over to the campus. He had been out of school for years now and he wasn't even sure that they would take him back. And if that was the case he was no good to Kagome, which meant that he'd be back sleeping on the streets. Well, he highly doubted that Kagome would send him packing, but he would be of no further use to her and he wasn't one to burden anyone. However, if they did accept him, there was no guarantee that he could keep up. It was extremely late in the semester to be joining and medical school was extremely rigorous. Part of him didn't even want to try for fear of rejection, but he also knew that this was perhaps the only chance he had to turn his life around. And once he had that particular realization he stomped up the stone staircase, thrust the door open and into the Office of Admissions.

It was just as he remembered it. He didn't spend a particularly large part of his time in the admissions office, but still. The faces of the students walking around were different, and some of the decor, but the feel was the same, as well as the smells. He took a moment to remember before winding his way through students and faculty to get into the main office. Seated at the front desk was an elderly woman who was currently typing away furiously at her computer keyboard. She had long gray hair and hard weather worn looking features, giving the illusion that she was perhaps 200 years old. A nametag on her desk revealed her to be Kaede Baba. He approached the desk and placed his forearms up on the desk. Looking up from the desk, the lady fixed him with a steady gaze. Meeting her gaze Inuyasha was shocked to realize she was wearing an eye patch. She looked like some strange sort of administrative pirate. He briefly wondered if she had a wooden leg, but was shook out of this thought by her speaking. "May I help, ye?" she asked in a polite, yet monotone voice.

'Ye?' Inuyasha thought giving her a quizzical look. 'She must be older than I thought'.

"Excuse me son, I said, 'May I help ye?'" the old woman asked again.

Inuyasha snapped to it again, "Um, yes…I…"Inuyasha started, unsure of exactly how to approach this subject. "I was a student here about five years ago and I had to drop out, and I was hoping to re-enroll" Inuyasha said feeling slightly embarrassed, but realized that he had no reason to be.

The old woman looked at him for a moment, face unchanging. "Name please?" she replied in the same monotone voice as before.

"Inu-Inuyasha Takashiro" Inuyasha said leaning over the desk slightly.

The old woman said nothing, but looked down the rim of her nose and began typing on her keyboard again. The computer beeped accordingly a few times before Kaede looked up again. "Okay, I brought ye's file up. Let me see, let me see…" Kaede trailed off clicking here and there and scrolling down. Inuyasha leaned forward trying to get a better look at the screen. Kaede glanced up agitated at him and reached out and moved the screen away from him. "Okay, ye left in good academic standing…Dean's list…excellent MCAT scores…left after 3 semesters. Well, it looks all right…" Kaede said glancing up at the screen to Inuyasha's face. "However, it's not up to me. Ye'll need to take these" Kaede said grabbing some sheets that had just come out of her printer, "Fill them out and take them to see ye's old academic advisor. You remember who and where he is?" she asked.

"He's still alive?" was Inuyasha's response taking the papers from Kaede.

"Quite alive." Kaede said monotonely pointing him down towards the door. Without another look she began typing again on her computer.

"Strange old broad" Inuyasha mumbled as he plodded out of the office. That hadn't been so bad. However, that had also been the easy part he was sure. Now he had to confront his old academic advisor. And he was positive that this was not going to be an easy conversation.

As he walked and filled out paperwork (not an easy task I assure you) he began to think. His academic advisor was probably one of the toughest old men that he had met. He was the eccentric professor that everyone wanted to like them, but could sniff out bullshit in a minute. He was the one who you had to earn the respect of through hard work and not brown nosing. Inuyasha was probably the only one of his freshman class that had not actively pursued getting on his good side. He had almost actively avoided him, point in fact. He had not once signed up for office hours with the man and only saw him once during his first semester to meet about his course selection for the next semester. It was that which had actually earned his respect and eventually turned him into one of Inuyasha's greatest supporters and a mentor of his as well. So when Inuyasha had to tell him he was dropping out, he had not taken it lightly.

Inuyasha eased himself down the hall and up the stairs to the second floor. Sidling along until he reached the end of the hall he glanced down at the name on the door. DR. MYOGA MIOSHI M.D. was emblazoned on the door in gold leaf. He leaned closer to the door and did not hear anyone talking, but his sensitive ears picked up the sounds of papers shuffling, fingers tapping computer keys, and such. He was about to knock on the door when a voice from inside called, "Enter".

Inuyasha chuckled; Dr. Mioshi had always had the uncanny ability to know when someone was outside his door. Taking a deep breath he turned the handle to the door and entered the office. Letting the door go, it closed with a faint click behind him. He glanced about the room, which also had not changed since the last time he'd been in there. The same bookcase filled with books complimenting the occupant's profession. The walls were an off white were adorned with pictures of various men and women, some famous doctors. His eyes still moving Inuyasha noticed the big mahogany desk, which was cluttered with papers and files, as well as a computer, a dead plant, and a small bust of Hypocrites. His eyes finally fell on a small man seated in a plush leather chair. He was incredibly short with an almost bald head with what was left of his hair was a shocking white. Overly large glasses fell of the man's nose enlarging his eyes making him have the appearance of an odd sort of owl. Truth in fact this man was a demon. A flea demon in fact, which seemed to account for his small stature. He was one of a few in the Medical school, but by far he was the most acclaimed as the various awards, degrees, and articles that hung off the walls proved to even the most casual of onlookers.

He wasn't looking at him at the moment, at present he was scribbling furiously at some paper on his desk and turned towards his computer which he typed into a for a second, clicked a few things, muttered "piece of crap" under his breath, waved off the computer with a "Bah" and kept scribbling, still almost ignoring Inuyasha. "Well, what do you want?" he asked still not looking up. "If I had…" he started

"A dime for every time a student wasted your time, you'd be able to afford that house in Malibu and take up life as a stand up comic you've always wanted to" Inuyasha interrupted and finished for him. "Hello Myoga" he said smirking.

Myoga at the sound of the voice stopped writing and finally glanced up and taking his glasses off and placing them off to the side and folding his hands in front of him. "Good Afternoon Master Takashiro" he said. "What can I do for you?" he asked cordially although his large eyes flickered while he spoke.

Inuyasha smirked at the name as he sat down in the chair in front of the desk. Myoga was in the habit of calling his male students Master and his female students Madam using an extremely Victorian style set of manners. It was one of the first things students liked about him. "It's been awhile. You seem to be doing well" he commented, but then looking to the plant, "I wish I could say the same for that plant."

Myoga waved an arm, "Bah, I was trained to be a doctor, not a gardener. The wife gave it to me. I have no idea how to keep the damned thing alive" he answered.

"You might try watering it" Inuyasha chimed in.

"Well Master Takashiro, as much as I appreciate the advice, I know you haven't come here to give me gardening tips. What can I do for you?" he asked leaning forward slightly in his chair. It was amazing that someone of such small stature could command such respect and unwavering confidence, but it was absolutely true.

Inuyasha breathed in sharply; just like Myoga, straight to business. He leaned forward and placed the forms Kaede had given him on the cluttered desk. "I would like to re-enroll back into the program" Inuyasha said straightforwardly. There was no sense mincing words with the old professor.

Myoga huffed, "You dropped out. You quit, and even if I said yes you're way too far behind to catch up now. Sorry, no" he said glancing back down at his paperwork.

"That's not true" Inuyasha shot back, agitated at being so bluntly rebuffed. "I had VERY good reasons for leaving as well you know. And I don't care how hard I have to work to catch up. I'll do it." he said resolutely.

Myoga glanced up again. "It has nothing to do with the reasons for your departure. It has everything to do with the fact that you have been gone for five YEARS. And your willingness to work hard has very little to do with it. People fresh out of Pre-Med can barely keep up and I highly doubt that you've been spending your time studying and reviewing your material, although it does seem you are doing well for yourself. You don't need medical school, go home Master Takashiro" Myoga snapped back indicating Inuyasha's clothes.

'If only he knew' Inuyasha thought to himself. Containing his frustration he practically growled. "Try me".

"What?" Myoga asked bewildered.

"You heard me, go on, ask me something" Inuyasha prodded him.

Myoga raised a white eyebrow. "Master Takashiro I don't have time for this, I have papers to correct, a lesson plan to write, and an episode of Jeopardy waiting for me at home. I don't have time to waste while you foolishly try to prove yourself."

"I don't have anything to prove, only that I can handle it" Inuyasha said his golden eyes flashing.

"You're serious?" Myoga queried further.

"I told you to ask me didn't I. Anything, anything at all and I'll answer it" Inuyasha said realizing he was taking a huge gamble.

Myoga nodded his head, Very well. So, Master Inuyasha, if I were to ask you to describe some possible symptoms of Pancreatitis?

"Epigastric tenderness, defuse abdominal tenderness, nausea, vomiting, fever, and a rapid pulse!" Inuyasha responded lightning quick surprising even himself. He had spoke his words out of anger at being put down, but he had no idea he had actually retained this knowledge.

Myoga nodded approvingly and continued. "Describe for me the disease Hashimoto Thyroiditis" Myoga challenged.

Quick as before and without thought Inuyasha responded, "A progressive disease of the thyroid gland characterized by the presence of antibodies directed against the thyroid, and by infiltration of the thyroid gland by lymphocytes".

"Symptoms?" Myoga countered.

Inuyasha leaned forward in his chair gripping the arms of his chair, "Enlarged Thyroid gland, weakness, fever, fatigue!"

Myoga's eyes lit up as he leaned forward as well. "Treatment?" he asked simply, but elevating his voice to match Inuyasha's.

Inuyasha stood up and leaned over the desk slamming both his hands down on the desk, "Treatment is to start thyroid hormone replacement as soon as possible!" he practically yelled in his old professor's face.

Myoga sat back a smirk lining his features. He didn't say anything at first, instead reaching into the top drawer of his desk and taking out a pipe. Lighting a match he lit the tobacco inside the pipe and began puffing away. Taking the pipe out of his mouth he pointed the stem of the pipe at Inuyasha. "Not bad. You remember some things so I see you're not completely out of it. However, don't think I'm impressed. Far from it, as a matter of fact". He returned the pipe to his mouth and puffed away looking sternly at Inuyasha. Standing up he folded his arms behind his back and the little man went to his bookshelf. He scanned the bookshelf for a moment before standing on his tip toes to reach a book Inuyasha would have had to bend down to retrieve. Once grasped firmly in his elderly hand he tossed it on the desk down on the desk from where he stood . "Here, read that" he stated returning to his seat. "I'm giving you a chance, Master Takashiro. I teach a winter make up course for students that are behind reviewing everything up you should know by now and this class DOES count Master Takashiro. I believe this will be beneficial to you" Myoga said sitting down and taking the papers in his hand he rapidly signed some lines on a few of the papers. He put them on top of the book and slid them towards Inuyasha. "Return those papers to the secretary in the admissions office on your way out. Class begins in two days, I suggest you spend it reading" Myoga said waving his hand dismissively at the young man.

Inuyasha didn't say anything for a moment. Silently he stood up grasping the book and papers with his right hand. "Thank you, Myoga, I won't let you down." he said feeling ever so slightly cliché for saying it.

Myoga said nothing simply gesturing for Inuyasha to get out so he could get back to work. When Inuyasha opened the door to leave, however Myoga spoke up again. "Inuyasha" he said causing the young hanyou to turn back to look at the small man behind the desk. "Welcome back" he said a smile lining his old features and meeting his eyes.

"Thanks" Inuyasha managed before turning and leaving. He plodded off down the hallway again not quite sure exactly what had just happened. He dropped the papers off to Kaede who greeted him with the same polite, yet monotone reply, but offering him a "welcome back" as well, so she wasn't all that bad in the hanyou's mind.

He descended the stone steps of the admissions office and onto the sidewalk. He could hardly believe it that he was back in medical school when a day previous to this he'd been sleeping in a bunch of cardboard boxes. He was going to be a doctor. He jumped up in the air pumping his fist and yelling "YEAH!" at the top of his lungs. Regaining his composure and realizing he'd just 'whooped' on a crowded city street Inuyasha set off on the long walk back to Kagome's apartment building.

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Kagome had been a little unsure of what to do with herself once Inuyasha had left so abruptly. She'd sat for awhile thinking and hoping and praying that everything would be all right. She'd tried watching TV, reading, cleaning, absolutely everything to keep her mind occupied, but at quarter after six she was getting worried. He'd been gone for hours now and she didn't know when or if he was coming back. She realized of course that perhaps he had been dishonest with her and had simply taken the new clothes and took off, but at the same time a voice in the back of her head told her that was wrong. He seemed to be incredibly honest, at least to her at any rate and thus far had given her no reason not to trust him.

She decided to start making dinner to occupy her time despite the fact that she wasn't that hungry. She was too distracted to think about food, but a girl had to eat. She pulled her lips between her teeth and absently tugged on a stray strand of hair. She hated this whole worrying thing and absently realized that this must be what it feels like to be a mother. She shook her head wearily from side to side, she was too young to be thinking like a mother. Inuyasha had been in her life for a day and already he was making her older. She wouldn't be surprised to find a few stray gray hairs on her head.

Opening the refrigerator she took out some chicken, lettuce, tomato, peapods, carrots, and a few other essentials and set to work. She grabbed a cooking apron from off of a hook, one of those novelty ones that said "Kiss the Cook" in large block letters. One of her co-workers at the office had given it to her as a housewarming gift. Cooking was one of those things that Kagome did not really view as a necessary evil. For some reason it was calming for her, and helped her focus a little bit. Some of her best revelations occurred when she was making food as that very morning had proved to her. She placed the chicken on a baking sheet and in the oven, which she had been preset to 350 degrees for nominal chicken baking.

Taking out a cutting board and a large wooden bowl she began assembling the ingredients for her salad. Then taking a large knife from a drawer she began to absently chop lettuce and throwing them into the bowl a few feet away in a kind of culinary basketball game. She was trying to concentrate on making all the lettuce the same size and shape. A game her father had taught her when making salad. She concentrated on one piece in particular, using the knife to neatly slice off an uneven portion making it nice and straight. Rotating it counterclockwise she began working on the next edge, but when she held it up realized that it had been cut on an angle. She tried to fix it, but the more she tried, the worse it got until she had reduced the lettuce into bio confetti. She slammed the knife down and looked up at her kitchen clock, "6:26" it read. Even this was not helping ease her thoughts, she was too worried. "Damn it" she cursed aloud, bringing a hand to her mouth. She never cursed! Now Inuyasha had her cursing too. "The BASTARD!" she said in a huff once again clamping her hands over her mouth. She'd sworn again and it was all his fault.

The sound of her front door unlocking, opening, closing, and footsteps shook her from her thoughts. She quickly excited the kitchen to see if it was who she thought it was. She turned the corner just in time to see Inuyasha strolling inside a serious expression on his face.

Looking up to see Kagome's curious expression he brightened and smiled. "Hey Chipmunk" he said a smug expression on his face.

"Don't chipmunk me, you bastard" Kagome shouted at him, but then as before growing wide eyed and clasping a hand to her mouth and blushed deep crimson. She couldn't believe she'd just yelled at him. And she couldn't believe that she'd just sworn three times in less than two minutes. She was going to Hell.

Inuyasha however just laughed at her. "What's with the swearing?" he inquired.

Kagome threw up her hands in the air, "It's just…I didn't know if you were lost, or hurt, or even coming back, so I got worried and I got frustrated. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to call you a bastard" she apologized.

Inuyasha gave her a wink and a smile. "That's okay. Ah, chipmunk, we just had our first fight AND our first make up as well. Does this mean I don't have to sleep on the couch?" he asked with a wry smile.

Kagome sighed and shook her head at him. "No, you don't have to sleep on the couch. Just your room, bucko" she said smiling. She realized while shaking her head trying to keep a smile from lining her features that it was literally impossible for her to be angry with him. This in truth was a good thing as it would prove to make their business venture easier. As the thought came to her mind her expression went wide with excitement. "Ooh, by the by, we need to talk about exactly what's going to go on in the next few months. I thought we could discuss it over dinner" Kagome smiled prettily.

"I accept your date" Inuyasha said bowing courteously. Giving her a strange look, he commented. "Nice apron."

Kagome glanced down and realized she still had the "Kiss the Cook" apron on. She quickly snatched the apron off and chucked it away from her into a conveniently open closet door. "What apron?" she asked innocently.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Never mind, must be my imagination" he said sarcastically.

Kagome giggled at Inuyasha's sarcasm. Most people would be put off by it, but she found it somewhat endearing. "Oh, by the by did everything go alright? Did you have problems signing up" Kagome queried.

Inuyasha's expression turned downtrodden and sadness filled his eyes. "Well, that's the thing. I don't know exactly how to tell you this…I just…"Inuyasha trailed off looking dejected.

Kagome's face fell and she felt crushed. She didn't know what to say, or what to do. What was she supposed to do now? If he wasn't in med school it was a problem, but she didn't want to kick him out. However, even if he got a job as a burger flipper that wouldn't look so good to the big guns at the office.

Inuyasha continued however his speech starting slow and then, "Won't be seeing a lot of you because I'm goING TO HAVE A LOT OF CLASS TO GO TO!"

Kagome stared at the hanyou in disbelief. "You jerk…stop teasing me like that. It's not nice" she pouted.

Inuyasha folded his arms and laughed. "Ah, silly woman. It's too easy though, and oh so tempting".

"Well stop it. And what happened to my name, or that pet name thing?

"Just keeping things interesting" Inuyasha said with a wink.

"No more of this, come on let's eat. I've been waiting for YOU to get back. Now, let's eat in honor of your re-acceptance back into Med School, the future Dr. Inuyasha Takashiro M.D." she said although still peeved from being tricked again.

Sniffing the air Inuyasha nodded approvingly. "Chicken and salad, excellent.

"Lead the way, Chipmunk" Inuyasha said cheekily.

"Follow me then, Pumpkin" Kagome responded leading him in the direction of the dining room.

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"So that's everything then?" Inuyasha asked as Kagome finished explaining in fine detail exactly what the plan was for her.

"Yup, that's everything. I figure that if we stick to this plan then I'll be able to land that promotion, no contest" Kagome said sticking her fork in a piece of chicken and sticking it daintily in her mouth.

"Okay, so like we said. I play your young doctor boyfriend and do all that boyfriend stuff. We've been going out for eight months. I attend some public events with you, company sponsored and such. Gala's charity auctions, etc. After the New Year I fake propose and stay that way until a month before the announcement of the promotion at which time we break up, but from which you recover emerging as the strong independent public figure of your company's dreams, is that about it?"

Kagome finished chewing and swallowed. "Pretty much, yeah."

Inuyasha nodded approvingly. "Sounds like a plan. A plan straight out of a soap opera. Very well thought out though. I give you kudos Kagome" Inuyasha said raising his wine glass to her. Light reflected through the wine and shone cheekily in Inuyasha's golden eyes. "Cheers," he offered.

Kagome raised her glass in acceptance, the same light shining through her glass and having the same effect on her chocolate brown eyes. "To a very fruitful business relationship" Kagome added. The two clinked the crystal glasses of Pinot Grigio together and the deal was sealed. Inuyasha would pretend to be Kagome's boyfriend and together they would achieve what they both so desperately wanted.

To be continued….

Thanks everyone for their reviews so far. They've been great and really made me want to continue this story. I would love to get some more reviews because I like them and they make me smile. And smiling writer happy writer, which means I write more. So please, please, PLEASE read and review my story and as always constructive criticism is always appreciated.

StarvingArtistinNY

Some Words of Wisdom:

"Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there"


	6. Ch 6: Back in the Swing of Things

Okay here we go again. I'm sorry that I haven't updated soon like I said I would. My dog that I've had since I was about six died and then I had to go back to school, so my life has been hectic to say the least. I'd like to think it has kept you all on the edge of your seats in anticipation. I'd like to thank every one of my reviewers so much. The fact that I have people wanting to read my story is really very fantastic. Enough of my ramblings, however. On with the show.

Chapter VI: Back in the Swing of Things

Kagome rubbed her eyes, trying to drive the sleepiness from her eyes and as a result her body. She stifled yawn with the back of her hand as she entered the revolving doors into Whytecrosse Advertising her advertising company. She quickly glanced up at the company logo; a red infinity sign over a silver background. As she entered the lobby her briefcase swung freely at her side. As she passed the security desk she flashed her id badge at the guard who nodded approvingly and she strode forward to the elevators. Soft jazz music filled her ears a she was pushed to the back as more people crowded inside. Feeling quite sardine like with about fifteen other people she asked for someone to push the 42 button. Blocked by people holding similar briefcases, cups of coffee and the like Kagome hoped that her request had been met. As the first stop arrived an overly cheerful voice came over the sound system of the elevator. "Just a friendly reminder to do your best from the whole Whytecrosse Advertising team. Go for it! We couldn't do it without you". Only installed last week from the brilliant people in Human Resources Kagome already loathed this happy message. Especially at 7:30 AM, this was not a time to be cheerful. She needed liquid stimulation in the form of a warm highly caffeinated substance. Several of her fellow employees seemed to agree with this unspoken sentiment glaring up angrily at the PA system.

After several more stops and several repeats of the same overly cheerful message later, Kagome could move enough to see that someone had indeed pressed the button for her floor. She glanced upward at the electronic floor counter situated above the doors. It's display screen bore the numbers 35. She glanced around finally to see if she knew anyone in the elevator from her floor. There were some women in pants suits speaking in quiet hushed tones about what sounded like the Jones account, a few men in suits and dress shirts speaking of similar thinks only they were speaking about the Stevenson account. The only other person who was in the elevator was a small older man who was reading a copy of the New York Times. Kagome sighed, she had only been here a month or two and still didn't know very many people in the office. Granted it was a large building with over a hundred floors, but she still wished she had someone to at least complain about the PA system to. As the doors opened on the 42nd floor she didn't give the PA system the time to get through it's friendly announcement as she practically bolted out and around the corner. She thought to herself that a sign in the elevators that read "Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here" would be a better choice. It might not improve morale, but it certainly would be more honest and less annoying.

Slowing her pace she stifled another yawn. She hadn't slept particularly well in the past few days. She had kept waking up in the middle of the night, thinking she heard strange sounds. It almost sounded as if it were music, but every time she would come downstairs there was no one there and she would then check on Inuyasha who would invariably be snoring away. She supposed that she was just nervous about this whole promotion business. She needed to concentrate on this promotion and if this newfound scheme of hers didn't work. She stopped in her tracks in front of her office door, eyes roaming over the nametag to the side of the door.

**Kagome Higurashi**

**Assistant Director of Sale Management**

**C-42-121**

She shook her head vigorously as if trying to rid herself of the thoughts creeping into her mind. Kagome didn't like the sound of that word; scheme. Scheme implied dishonesty and this was…well it was dishonest, but it was a means to an end. It wasn't a scheme, it was an initiative, a carefully enacted plan, that should she reveal to her co-workers would be highly apt to pat her on the back for her ingeniousness. With this in mind she resumed her careful and professional stride across the carpeted floor. She was the best person for this job and desperately did not want to leave New York City. She knew deep down in her bones that she was. She had not only the desire and talent for the promotion, but the need as well. If not she'd be forced to move again. The prospect made her cringe outwardly as she rested a hand on the nametag, hand caressing the Gothic style text. A voice shook her from her thoughts.

"Miss Higurashi? Sorry to bother you, but…oh, did you forget the keys to your office?" a voice asked, politely.

Kagome turned to see Sango Kuonji, her personal secretary giving her a kind, but curious gaze. Sango was about Kagome's age, graduated from Notre Dame and currently attending Grad school in the city, all the while working her way through with a part time job as Kagome's secretary.

Kagome smiled and nervously ran a hand through his hair. "Oh, no Sango, it's just…Monday you know. That, and I'm pretty sure that if I hear that 'friendly office message' one more time, I'm going to have to kill someone." Kagome laughed, but was met still with the slightly stoic expression of the slightly younger girl. She didn't have the greatest sense of humor per say, but once you broke down her wall she was really a great friend to have, and one of the few Kagome had thus far in her career at Whytecrosse Advertising.

It had been an interesting meeting and matchup between the two on the first day of Kagome's employ there. She had been shown to her desk by her supervisor and introduced to Sango as her secretary. She had smiled politely and nodded as Kagome was ushered inside. Shortly after her supervisor left her to get settled, Sango had entered into the office and stating. "My name is Sango Kuonji, I'm your secretary, I take calls, get coffee, copy, type, fax, make spreadsheets, organize you appointments, other than that, it's up to you. Call me Sango not Ms. Kuonji, it's too formal and makes me sound old. And, do you want to go to lunch with me? There's this guy who keeps...never mind you'll find out, but please?" she had asked eyes wide. It was there that Kagome had made her first friend in New York.

Sango shrugged her shoulders and gave a half smile. "I already saw some high powered exec flip out on it. Ripped the speaker down from the wall while I was in the elevator this morning. Security took him away." Sango said turning briefly to her desk and handing Kagome a cardboard cup. "Here" she said, simply. "Cinnamon spice, half and half, one sugar."

Kagome nearly melted on the spot, gratefully accepting the caffeine in a cup from her secretary. "Thank you, you save my life on a daily basis" she sighed leaning her head briefly on the younger girl's shoulder. "Are you serious?" she added taking her head away and looking wide eyed at her friend.

"Yes, I'm serious" Sango said almost hurt at the statement. "I don't think they're going to last much longer. Someone else is bound to crack. And it might be you by the sound of things, Kagome".

"You might be right" Kagome admitted only half joking. "Good weekend?" she asked making small talk.

"Busy, working on my senior thesis. I have no life and it's not even due until next semester. I'm going to die" Sango said morosely.

"You'll survive, I promise" Kagome said comfortingly laughing gently and patting her friend.

"Will you go shopping with me on Saturday, please? I need to relax." Sango whined.

Kagome realized she had a marvelous opportunity to begin spreading a little office gossip and grinned secretly to herself. "Fighting off saturday shoppers in New York is not my idea of relaxing, but I'll have to see. I think I'm going out this weekend" she said trying to sound non-chalant, which she knew would peak Sango's interest.

Sango swallowed, hook, line, and sinker. "What...did you meet someone?" Sango asked in an excited whisper her eyes open wide with excitement. She grabbed Kagome pushing her into her office and sitting her down. "Spill" she demanded. "What's his name?" she asked once she had Kagome settled in a chair and she herself took a seat.

"Inuyasha" Kagome said unable to resist a smile. This was going well.

"Cute?" Sango asked leading forward.

"Very" Kagome said nodding her head in agreement. Inuyasha was cute, she could admit that. Well, she couldn't deny it at all. He cleaned up nice at the very least.

Sango leaned forward more and let out a content sigh. Kagome's smile grew. It would be all over the office by lunch.

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Inuyasha made his way into the lecture hall, glancing around at the raked arena style seating and of flip down seats with the folding desktops. It was older room in some need of renovation. A dry erase whiteboard lined the front of the classroom and an overhead projector stood near the front of the room. A large mahogany desk sat in the corner, illuminated in fluorescent lighting. Scanning the seats, Inuyasha chose a seat about half way up through the rows and to the far right. After many years of schooling he had learned that this was the best possible spot to sit in. He didn't look like a suck up by sitting front row center, nor did he appear to be a slacker sitting as far away as possible. He looked average, if noticed at all, but since most professors faced you and "read" the class like a book left to right, he would be the last person to be seen.

He watched as more people began to arrive filling up various spots in the lecture hall. Some sat in front, to the back, to the far side, everywhere with only a select few who had learned this trick as well coming to sit near him. He clicked his tongue noting how much younger the other students seemed in comparison to himself. It was to be expected, but now he felt like "that old guy" who was in your classes every once in awhile. Granted he wasn't that old, only a few years older than most here, but he still felt slightly out of place. He wished that there were someone that he knew here, or could relate to on some level other than Myoga who was teaching the class.

Inuyasha fidgeted in his new clothes, still not used to them after spending the past few years wearing the same ragged things. Kagome had thrown away most of those clothes, but he refused to part with the tattered scarf, instead he had it washed and began repairing it to the best of his ability which was not great, but now it simply looked as if it were a worn and used scarf. It didn't truly match the khaki pants and black v neck sweater he was wearing now, but he certainly seemed to be pulling off the illusion of pretentious med student, or at the very least high school drama coach. He pulled out a used textbook a pen and a notebook and spread them on the small expanse of desk he had been allotted. He glanced at the wall clock, noting the time before glancing down at the book. He had to take a deep breath and reflect for a moment. He could hardly believe he was back. A week ago today he had been digging through alley ash cans and now he was someone again. And he owed it all to perhaps the strangest and most selfless girl he had ever met. Well, not completely selfless, perhaps, he was being used to achieve her desired goal, but at the same time she had raised him from the very depths of poverty. He felt that he could never admit it to Kagome herself, but it made him uncomfortable. She had basically invested in him a sum which he could never repay leaving himself almost completely indebted to her even if she said this was not the case. Nonetheless, he was now dependant on someone else, a position he did not like to be in. He had always been independent, but now he felt slightly…trapped…or caged, or on a very short leash.

"Settle down all, settle down" a voice called Inuyasha out from his thoughts to the front of the room. Myoga was standing in the front of the room easily seen in the arena style seating. "Now if everyone is settled we can get started. As you know I am Dr. Myoshi and you will address me as such. Welcome to our winter semester Concentrated Medical Studies or as we affectionately call it 'The Meat-Grinder' " Myoga said earning a few chuckles from the students.

"Don't laugh, children," Myoga continued removing the glasses he wore to polish the lenses, "We call it that because this course will be much more difficult than anything you've experienced thus far and if you let it this course will chew you up and spit you out just like…a meat grinder" he said inflecting his voice at the end as if he were speaking to small kids.

"This is my TA, Dr. Kouga Yubari" he said nonchalantly gesturing with his hand to introduce a black haired young man about Inuyasha's age that made his way across the front of the room holding a brown leather case which he swung up onto the desk, sharp eyes panning the class. Inuyasha recognized him immediately. He had been in school with Inuyasha until the time he had dropped out, and the two had been, shall we say competitive with one another in just about every aspect of their lives, from grades to girls, and stupid things like who could hold their breath longer, the two had been rivals. Seeing him now, Myoga's Teaching Assistant made Inuyasha retract his previous thoughts about wishing he knew someone in the class. Kouga had been delighted when Inuyasha had been forced to drop out although would never say it and seeing him here Inuyasha had no doubt that once Kouga learned he was in this class he would be making his life a living hell. No sooner had he finished this thought then Kouga finished panning the room, his eyes meeting Inuyasha's, the recognition instantaneous, and a smug smile formed on Kouga's lips.

"Good Morning, everyone. I am Dr. Kouga Yubari and I will be Dr. Mioshi's Teaching Assistant for this class. I am responsible for preparing you for the comprehensive evaluation at the end of this winter semester. The exam will comprise of a practical portion as well as a written exam, which will cover all of the in class lectures as well as the assigned readings. The written exam will be entirely essay form. I suggest you all start studying now." Kouga said a condescending and superior grin tugging at the corners of his mouth as he attempted to remain professional and serious in front of the old professor who was watching him address the class.

"Okay," Myoga interrupted Kouga, indicating a stack of papers on his desk with a hand gesture. Kouga obediently walked and began handing them out to the rows of students. "Here is the syllabus which you can read on your own time. I trust that you don't need my help with that. And now that the formalities are disposed with, let our daily torture commence" Myoga said turning and began scribbling furiously on the whiteboard behind him. Inuyasha glanced down to notice Kouga looking up at him again and the two locked eyes for a moment the fires of their unspoken rivalry instantly brought roaring back to life, until Inuyasha was forced to break their staring contest so that he could start copying down the notes on the whiteboard and so as to keep up with the rigorous pace that Myoga was sure to set. So it had begun.

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Kagome sat in her office, reading over a proposal, absently twirling a pen in her hair as she studied the words in front of her. Every once in awhile she would take a sip of coffee, but other than that it was the same movement, unbroken over and over. Her eyes darted back and forth as she read the documents in front of her. She was in concentrating extremely hard on this proposal for no particular reason, but she often got into "the zone" When her phone rang she practically yelped in surprise, but managed to suppress it to a mild gasp of surprise. Sango poked her head in the doorway leaning from her chair hearing Kagome make the gasp, a curious expression on her face. Kagome gave her an embarrassed smile that read, 'I know, I know, I'm fine, I'm fine'. Sango gave her a quizative look and pointed to the phone still currently ringing on Kagome's desk. Kagome nodded again picking up the phone and waving Sango away. Today was turning out to be one of those days, apparently.

"Whytecrosse Advertising, Kagome Higurashi speaking," said into the phone seeing Sango had not gone away.

'Who is it?' Sango mouthed suggestively, wiggling her eyebrows and winking at Kagome.

Kagome now waved Sango off more vigorously than before. Covering the mouth piece with her left hand and whispering loudly, "GO!" Sango took the hint and her head disappeared to within the recesses of her cubicle. Starting to sow the seeds of her and Inuyasha's relationship was possibly going to be more trouble than it was worth if it meant Sango making "sexy eyebrows" at her every time her phone rang.

"Kagome, dear, it's your mother" a cheerful voice filtered over the phone line.

"Hello, Mom" Kagome answered loudly enough so that Sango to hear.

"You sound more awake than the last time we talked" Kagome's mother commented.

"I've had coffee" Kagome said unable to stop a grin from spreading to her face and leaking into her tone of voice making her sound peppy.

"I can tell. I'm just calling because our conversation ended rather abruptly the last time we spoke.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that Mom, I had some…errands to run" Kagome said telling an extended truth. She was not quite sure how she should break her "relationship" news to her mother. No matter how she broke it to her mother she was going to flip out. A frown formed on her face as she realized also that she couldn't tell her mother what was going on. She had to convince her mother of this as well. The less people that knew the truth, the better.

"That's fine dear, that's fine. So how was your weekend? Did anything exciting happen?" Kagome's mother asked the inevitable question.

"Well, I did some shopping, reading, and well" Kagome took a deep breath and plunged right in, "…I met someone" she put forth.

"Really?" her mother asked almost dreamily as if afraid to believe it for fear she might jinx it. Over the phone Kagome could hear her mother restraining herself forcibly.

"Yes, I did." Kagome stated simply trying not to reveal too much just yet. Slip it in there and get out.

"What's his name?" came the next question.

"Inuyasha Takashiro" she answered.

"That's a nice name" Kagome's mother responded. "Is he a nice young man?" she added still maintaining her mask of calm.

"Yes, in a very different sort of way." Kagome answered, both of them still treading cautiously around one another.

A deep inhalation of breath came from the other end of the phone. "What does he do?" her mother queried.

Kagome smiled nervously although her mom could not see it. 'Time to throw in the trump card' she thought to herself. "He's a med student at NYU" she ventured forth.

Immediately a shriek sounded from the end of the other line followed by thud and some frantic scuffling noises.

"Mom? MOM? Mom, are you alright?!?" Kagome practically shouted into the phone.

"What…oh, I'm sorry dear; I was so excited that I dropped the phone" Mrs. Higurashi answered back, excitement pouring out of her like she was a dam that had just burst. "You took my advice" she said sounding both excited and choked up at the same time.

"Yes, I suppose I did" Kagome answered truthfully, as it was her mother who had first sparked the inspiration that had led to her scheme or plan depending on which bit of conscious you listened to in Kagome's mind. "Although, not on purpose" Kagome added as an afterthought. "Our meeting was quite by accident really" Kagome mused.

"Oh, honey I'm so happy for you" Mrs. Higurashi gushed. "Let me go tell your father" she added.

Kagome blanched, "Oh, no don't tell Daddy just yet Mom. It's still very new and very…different, and nothing might come of it. I'd rather not tell him just yet".

"Why dear?" Mrs. Higurashi asked and after a brief pause queried further. "Have you two been intimate already?"

Kagome practically fell out of her chair at the question. "MOTHER!" she scolded. "No we have not, I just met him, what do you expect of me? I told you yesterday I don't do those things."

"Well, you said this was different so I assumed that meant something. Because it's okay you know. You're on your own and it's your decision what you want to do. If you're having sexual relations with him that's fine. I just want you to be able to tell me without feeling bashful".

"Mother, exactly WHAT is your obsession with my sex life about?" Kagome asked a little too loudly over the phone causing Sango's head to once again re-appear in the doorway.

"It's not an obsession, dear. I just think it's something we should be able to talk about, that's all" Mrs. Higurashi answered her daughter.

Kagome waved Sango away vigorously which Sango did reluctantly and Kagome sighed in frustration. This was not going how she had envisioned it. "Okay, first of all, no it's not and secondly even if I would there's nothing to talk about anyway, all right?" Kagome answered back.

"All right" Mrs. Higurashi responded.

"All right" Kagome countered.

"All right, then" Mrs. Higurashi finished. A short silence ensued before Mrs. Higurashi broke the silence. "When you do become intimate you let me know though, alright?"

"MOTHER!" Kagome yelled back her frustration growing.

"I'm just joking dear, calm down. Oh, the other line is ringing, I'll talk to you soon sweetie. I love you". Mrs. Higurashi sang into the phone.

"I love you too, mom." Kagome mumbled into the phone and hung up once she heard the other line go dead. She proceeded to bury her head in her arms. She loved her mother dearly, but there were some things one just didn't discuss with their parents. On the positive side though, her mother believed what little she had told her about him.

Hearing some slight commotion going on outside of her door she rose from her desk to see what the noise was about. She needed a diversion from her work, some brief respite from her own life for just a moment. Stalking outside her office door her eyes landed on her secretary who was typing away at her computer her eyes glued to the screen, blatantly ignoring the young man sitting on her desk.

He was young, about Kagome's age, attractive, with an athletic build, short black hair, and mischievous dancing eyes. At the present moment he was speaking emphatically, but with just a hint of jocularity in his tone to Sango. "Come on, Sango. Just have lunch with me, is that so bad?" he asked her.

"That would involve people seeing us in public, so no" Sango replied a sardonic smile lining her face.

"You don't seem to mind so much right now" the young man added leaning in and spinning her computer monitor around to see what she was working on.

Sango threw him an annoyed look and spun her monitor back around so she could continue her work. "No, that would be called having a lot of tolerance for you, that's all."

"See, you have tolerance. You won't admit it, but I grow on you like a fungus until you can't get enough of me" he replied.

"Don't you have work to do, Miroku?" Kagome finally interrupted the back and forth between the two of them, causing Miroku to look up and smile at her charmingly.

"Just coming to see you, boss lady, I have the specs for the Toys for Tots campaign next month. Sorry, you know I can't help getting distracted sometimes" he added the same charming tone in his bright voice. True, Miroku was charming, but he was also what one would refer to as a Human Resources nightmare. He had been in trouble with them more than anyone else in the entire company, which was quite an astounding record when one thought about it, but nothing to be proud of. While HR spent most of its time trying to get Miroku to understand something…anything about personal space, sexual harassment, office etiquette and the like, Miroku danced around the issue like a toreador evading a charging bull. It usually began with a female co-worker and ended with him being slapped. All of his issues were resolved with him at worst having to take sensitivity training, yet again, or was avoided all together dismissed after the young lady in question undoubtedly received a very touching and heartfelt apology from Miroku. And most did accept because in truth Miroku did sincerely feel bad that his flirting could be taken that way. Some were just naïve that way. However, when Kagome had started here, Miroku was among the first to be assigned under her, both a practical joke and a test of her management skills from her higher ups. His official title was Jr. Executive Claims Consultant to the Chief…something or other. It was a long and convoluted title. The short of it, however, was that he worked for her.

Kagome grasped the files from him in slight disbelief and briefly glanced down at them her mind already churning as she began cranking out ideas and storing them away mentally. "How did you get these already? I thought that Claims Processing wouldn't be done with this for another week." She said looking up from the folder in her hands.

Miroku smiled and put his hands behind his head. "Go ahead; tell me I'm wonderful, that you couldn't do it without me. Go ahead, tell me." Miroku gloated. That was the other reason that HR did not just fire Miroku outright. He was very VERY good at his job and invaluable to the company. In this Kagome envied him.

Kagome smiled a genuine smile, "You are wonderful" she admitted turning to retreat into her office. "Thank you, Miroku".

"Don't I get anything for doing such a good job?" Miroku asked an enormous self satisfied smile plastered on his face.

Kagome, still reading the report waved her hand in the air in a clockwise motion. "Sango, go to lunch with Miroku" Kagome said.

"WHAT?!?" Sango yelled indignantly shooting up out of her chair so quickly that the bobble-head Mickey Mouse fell off of her desk.

"Thanks, boss lady" Miroku chimed in kneeling down nonchalantly to pick up the bobble-head doll and happily return it to sit on Sango's desk again which went unnoticed by the young secretary.

"Can you even do that?" Sango asked exasperatedly.

"Yes, I can." Kagome said adopting her serious 'You will do as I say because I control your salary' voice and mannerisms. "Besides, I said to go to lunch with him; I said nothing about sitting at the same table or even in the same cafeteria. You just need to go at the same time" Kagome said before retreating into her office.

Miroku sighed, slightly disappointed, but he'd take it for now. Glancing down at his watch he looked up and smiled. "Well, its 11:47 now, but I'll be back at 12:15, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever" Sango said sitting back down heavily into her chair and taking her irritation and frustration out on the keyboard.

"Come on, Sango it's not so bad. I waaaaaaaannnnttt you to want me. I neeeeeeeeeeed you to need me" Miroku sang quietly as he walked back over to his workstation.

"What is that song from, like 1980?" Sango called after his retreating form.

"1977 actually" Miroku called back before disappearing around a corner. Sango just huffed and bent down to pick up her bobble-head doll Mickey Mouse that had fallen off her desk earlier, only to realize it was staring eye level at her back on her desk. She smiled in spite of her herself.

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Kagome sat down back in her office going over the paperwork that Miroku had brought her. It was brilliant that she had this now. She was very fortunate to have him working for her. Now she had a chance to get a tad bit of a head start on this. She grabbed a notepad and began to jot down some ideas as she set up a plan on what she needed to be done and some research ideas. She smiled as she worked, realizing that the 'Toys for Tots' toy drive was among one of the largest social events that her company organized. It was actually something that had been used as a business model while she was in school, and now she actually had the opportunity to work on it herself. She couldn't resist a slight happy giggle as she continued to work. Furthermore, she figured it would be an excellent time to introduce Inuyasha out into public. At the very least it would be a good test to see if this whole thing was going to work. And god did she hope it would work. She just needed to make sure that he was ready, prepared, beyond prepared. She glanced up at her clock, realizing she needed to go to lunch and then to a business meeting at two o'clock. Tearing herself away from the report she rose out of her chair and grabbed her lunch and keys, leaving her office to go down to meet a few co-workers for a quick lunch.

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Inuyasha rubbed his wrist as he was sure he had just developed carpal tunnel syndrome, which ironically he had just learned about. They had covered developmental afflictions today and it was killing him. Myoga had not been kidding when he said this course as going to be difficult. Granted, he had not taken any classes in quite awhile, but this was a little bit ridiculous. Diligently, he had taken the notes though, paying attention and answering questions whenever he had been called upon, which seemed rather often, even his patented secret sitting spot offered him no protection, Myoga putting him to the test and seemingly holding him to a higher standard than the other students taking the course because for him the stakes were that much higher. He picked up his notebook, realizing that he needed a new one already. It was not a big deal, simply daunting with the amount of information he was going to have to know. However, this was exactly what he wanted. In any case, he had purchased several just for this reason. He glanced at his watch checking the time. He had another class at 2:00, but was free until then and with the rumbling in his stomach decided that lunch was definitely a good idea about that time. He began to gather his things, throwing them into his backpack, but a voice made him turn around.

"Inuyasha Takashiro, I thought I saw you up there."

Turning around he saw Kouga looking up at him, hands in his pockets, a sycophantic smile on his face.

"Kouga," Inuyasha replied turning back to putting his things away and throwing it over his shoulder.

"That's Dr. Kouga Yubari, mind you" Kouga replied the smile still lining his features.

Inuyasha turned and narrowed his eyes, not liking the air of condescension in his tone. "Yes, but between old friends such as us, I'm sure we can drop the formalities." Inuyasha added inclining his head to the side and throwing his scarf over his shoulder. If this was going to be a battle of pretentiousness Inuyasha was well prepared.

"Agreed." Kouga said copying Inuyasha's movement and throwing his own scarf over his shoulder. "Well, well, well, it has been a LONG time, wouldn't you say dog breath?" Kouga mocked.

"Ah, it all comes flooding back now, huh, wolf face?" Inuyasha said trying to remain civil as their names for one another came back to the surface. "So, you actually graduated? The world is full of surprises" Inuyasha responded.

Kouga's smile wavered for a brief second before he spoke again. "Yes, I did graduate. I was hoping to see you at the reunion until I realized that those are more for graduates not dropouts. I see you're taking another crack at it. If at first you don't succeed and all of that" Kouga retorted.

"Something like that. So, you're a teaching assistant now. I'm impressed; your mother must be very proud" Inuyasha answered trotting down the steps towards the door, already bored with Kouga's pathetic attempt at getting a rise out of him.

"Actually, I just became a Resident at Columbia Medical. I'm the youngest in their history. That says what a little talent and some good breeding will do for you" Kouga taunted. Inuyasha secretly fumed at the crack about his blood and breeding and whirled around to face Kouga.

Before Inuyasha could respond again Myoga interrupted them. "Hold this, Kouga" Myoga said shoving his leather bag into Kouga's hands. "Master Takashiro it's good to see you here. However, I expect more from you if you anticipate passing this class to join us during the regular term. That's all." He said as he noticed Inuyasha opening his mouth to interject and without another words walked away, Kouga following in his stead, who glanced back at Inuyasha still standing on the steps and gave him a condescending smile and a shake of the head before turning to catch up with the elderly professor.

Inuyasha grabbed his bag and angrily swung it over his shoulder again and stomped out of the classroom hurriedly. He didn't know what Myoga expected from him. He had spent the entire weekend reading the text cover to cover, eight times and was feeling well prepared. He had answered the questions asked of him to the best of his ability. For being gone so long he thought that he had performed more than adequately. Things like that always had a way of destroying your day. What a way for his first class back in med school to end. 'Welcome to the meat grinder' he thought to himself miserably as he exited the lecture hall to get himself some food and prepare himself for the next onslaught.

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So, that's it for this chapter. Once again my apologies for the length of time it took me to put this up, but life has been hectic. Thank you for the reviews though, they have really kept me going as far as my determination to write this story and deliver something worth reading to you as well. I know this chapter was not particularly exciting, but I swear it gets better. Or at least in my head it does. I'm just adding to the drama. And for any of you wondering there is not really going to be much focus on Sango and Miroku in the story. I really want to focus on Inuyasha and Kagome for this. Not to say they won't be involved, just not the focus. I kind of want to try to be a little more unconventional with this story as I find that a lot of stories slip into a kind of a predictable genre and I am attempting to break away from it…slightly. The next chapter will be up soon where you meet the semi-villain of the story. And here is a hint, it's not Naraku. In fact, I'm fairly sure that he will not be making an appearance in this story at all. You never know though.

Yet some more …Words of Wisdom from yours truly:

" It's not good enough to succeed. Others must fail."

Gore Vidal

I realize that I probably should start making my chapters longer as I think I'm running out of words of wisdom for all of you. Later all.

StarvingArtistinNY


	7. Ch 7: Interlude and First Snow

Back by popular demand…an update. I have nothing else to say right now so let's get right to it.

**At Night Chapter VII:**

**Interlude and First Snow**

Kagome walked hurriedly through the increasingly familiar streets of New York. Her shoes clacked repetitively on the concrete sidewalk as she headed towards her apartment after an extremely long and difficult Monday. In actuality, it had been fine initially. The conversation with Sango, her mother, Miroku's help later on, lunch, all had been fine until the meeting at two that day. She had met not with her own supervisor, but with the CEO of her entire company. Kagome had, but only briefly met him, when she had initially been hired, but did not truly work under him, so when she had received the notification she had been surprised. She gripped her coat around her tighter, the pale pink, duller as the winds picked up and grey skies rolled overhead. A storm was coming, that was undoubted, snow by the predictions of the weatherman, and while the prospect of the year's first snow would usually have brought happiness and happy memories of childhood to the young woman, today this expectation only brought the frown tugging at the corners of her usually happy grin to fruition. A particularly nasty gust of wind whipped down the street causing Kagome to shiver involuntarily and close her eyes to block out the worst of the draft.

She remembered the meeting with the CEO briefly, but quickly shut out the thoughts. She didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to ever think about it. She just wanted to be home and pour herself a glass of wine to forget about it. She turned into her building and offered the doorman a half smile. She shouldered her bag and pushed the button for her floor. She tapped her foot waiting impatiently for the doors to open. She couldn't get in her apartment fast enough. She closed the door quickly behind her and called out into the apartment. "Inuyasha?" she called tentatively. She turned on the lights and looked in his usual favorite spots, his room, the kitchen, the living room, but he was nowhere. Kagome sighed, that meant she had the apartment to herself for awhile. And with that she let out a frustrated shriek, although slightly contained; she did after all have neighbors. She threw her briefcase on the floor and hung her coat in the closet, proceeding straight to the kitchen for a glass of wine. She poured herself a glass and taking a sip and bringing it with her as she headed upstairs to change. Throwing off her work clothes, she opted for some comfortable sweats and a t-shirt. She proceeded back down the staircase and plopped down on the couch. She faced the windows and watched the grey overcast skies overhead, making the grey concrete of the city look dead. She took another sip of her wine and pulled her legs into her chest, giving herself a hug.

The little light shining through the clouds cast eerie shadows across her apartment, making Kagome feel for the first time since moving here a little bit… alone in her big empty apartment. Her eyes watered and a few stray tears ran down her cheeks, but Kagome made no move to wipe them away. Part of her felt extremely silly. She guessed it was just stress and frustration and the demands that she was placing on herself, but still. She reached onto her coffee table and grasped the remote to her sound system in her apartment. She had paid a pretty penny for some guys to come and set up this ridiculous thing, but it was well worth it. She had speakers installed in every room of her apartment so she could listen no matter where she was. She hit the play button and after a few moments the opening notes of the overture of the opera 'Pagliacci' began to emanate from the speakers. The familiar melodies brought the briefest of smiles to her face. Her roommates at college had poked fun at her for listening to it, but it was just her taste in music. She couldn't help it. There was just something so wonderfully grand and eloquent about it that she loved, so intricate, so complex. She had tried on multiple occasions to explain this to her roommates, but they had just chuckled at her musing about why she liked that 'stuff'. It didn't matter, to her it was beautiful and right now it was exactly what she needed. Sipping at the wine again she tried to block this afternoon's events from creeping into her thoughts, but could not help, but replay the tape with Luciano Pavarotti ringing in her ears.

_Earlier…_

_Kagome had arrived back from lunch with some time to spare before her meeting which she spent the first part of trying to get more work done which was followed by her double checking her appearance to make sure she was presentable for Mr. Whytecrosse. She had no idea exactly why he had called her in for an appointment as she did not directly work for him, but that was no matter, she wanted to make sure she made a good impression. _

_Leaving her office Kagome made her way to the elevator which would bring her to the top floor and subsequently the offices of Mr. Whytecrosse himself. She had only met him briefly when she had first been hired, but only on the rarest of occasions did she even glimpse him in the office at all. She was determined to make a good impression for whatever this was. _

_She had exited the elevator on the top floor of the building and spoke to Mr. Whytecrosse's personal secretary. "Hi, I'm Kagome Higurashi; I have an appointment with Mr. Whytecrosse at two o clock? _

_The young secretary looked up and smiled, "Ah, yes Ms. Higurashi, please go inside, Mr. Whytecrosse is expecting you"._

_Kagome smiled and nodded treading slowly over the carpet to the large double oak doors ahead of her, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. She knocked politely on the door, hearing the sound echo into the large expanse of the outer and inner office. "Enter" a voice boomed from the other side of the door. _

_Kagome pulled the door open slowly listening to the creaking of the door, enhanced by the high vaulted ceilings of the room. Stepping inside the office, she could see the view of the New York skyline from the mirrors where sunlight streamed inside lighting the room. A few plants lined a walkway of carpet leading to the desk of a man who was seated at a large desk made of a dark oak wood. It seemed very old, stained deep, giving off a rich smell. Behind the desk sat Mr. Whytecrosse, imposing against the New York skyline. Also in the room was the entirety of the Board of Directors. They were all sitting in chairs near Mr. Whytecrosse's desk "Ms. Higurashi, sit" he stated indicating a chair in front of his desk his voice powerful and authoritative and doing nothing to alleviate the tension building in the pit of Kagome's stomach. She had no idea that there were going to be other people here._

_She did as she was beckoned and sat in the only available chair to face the man in charge of her corporation. She squinted as she realized she couldn't see him at all. The sun streaming into the office came from his back, causing sun to shine into her eyes and Mr. Whytecrosse to be an amorphous blob of black sitting in front of her, his appearance cast in shadow, much like the face of the moon during a solar eclipse. Kagome had the sneaking suspicion that this was intentional. It certainly worked, it was quite imposing. She sat there quietly for a few moments, unconsciously smoothing out the folds of her skirt while she waited for Mr. Whytecrosse to acknowledge her further in some way, but at present he was speaking to one of them about buying out some smaller company from Oregon. Minutes stretched by in an uncomfortable silence for Kagome as she sat in the chair, feeling smaller and smaller in this intimidating presence as well as the scrutiny of those around her, and he had only spoken two words to her. She had the distinct feeling and memory of sitting in her school principal's office back in grade school again. Finally, unable to stand the silence any further, Kagome spoke up._

"_Sir, if this is an inconvenient time, I could come back later, I know you're very busy" Kagome said politely trying to speak distinctly, lest her words become sped up and jumbled, speech taken over by her nerves. _

"_No, just sit there, Ms. Higurashi. Or do you think that I am unable to schedule meetings when I am not… busy" Mr. Whytecrosse asked with an air of almost uncaring simplicity. _

"_Oh, no sir, I was just…" Kagome started indicating the board members only to be interrupted._

"_Please, Kagome, no need to call me sir. Mr. Whytecrosse should suffice" He said earning chuckles from the men around him._

"_Oh...um…yes, Mr. Whytecrosse" Kagome said a light blush staining her cheeks as she hastily apologized. _

_A long paused followed in which Kagome felt she was being scrutinized very closely not only by him, but by the board as well. She crossed her ankles to keep her knees from bouncing as they did in periods of elevated stress. She tried to keep a calm confident smile on her face, but was unsure of how successful she was being. "What exactly is your job here, Kagome?" Mr. Whytecrosse asked finally._

_The question caught Kagome off guard slightly. "My job, Sir…Mr. Whytecrosse?" she asked._

_An exasperated sigh came from the CEO, "Did I stutter? Yes, Kagome, your job here"._

"_Well…" Kagome began unsure of exactly how to answer this unusual question._

"_Well? That's your answer? Tut, tut, that overpriced Ivy league education not living up to its reputation now is it, hmm Yale?" He commented as the board members met with appropriate chuckles yet again._

"_I…I" Kagome stammered unable to come up with a proper response to this, her discomfort and blush increasing by the moment as she fidgeted in her chair._

"_I…I, what?" Mr. Whytecrosse's voice flooded the room. "I ask you a simple question and you cannot answer it? Do you mean to tell me that I have to tell you what your job is?"_

_Finally finding her voice Kagome spoke up. "No, Mr. Whytecrosse, I know what my job is. I'm just not sure how to answer your somewhat unusual question"._

"_My question is unusual is it? I ask it because for one it truly puts things into perspective, and the other reason is simply because you seem to be unable to grasp the concept yourself" came the calm authoritative voice._

_Kagome was completely unprepared for this. "Um, sir has anyone complained about my performance?" she asked with a look of half surprise half indignation. _

_Silence ensued and although she still could not see him, Kagome knew he was smiling. "I'm the one who believes it. As the CEO I need the best team of people to surround me. We hired you almost straight out of grad school to do this job and laid it all out for you. You've been given a marvelous opportunity, a trial position, chance for advancement, starting bonus, and such. And all I will say as that for all this company has invested in you we have yet to see a mutual return. I will not dwell on it further, however. All I will say is that the 'Toys for Tots' drive had better …exceed my expectations. That is all." He said turning back to the board members._

"_But…Mr. Whytecrosse" Kagome began._

"_That is all" Mr. Whytecrosse interrupted again changing his tone ever so slightly. Kagome sat taken aback at what she had just heard, but not wanting to give him another excuse to dig into her she stood. _

"_Yes…Mr. Whytecrosse" she said as politely as she could muster before turning on her heal and rushing towards the door as quickly as possible. But before she could reach the door his voice spoke up again. _

"_And do not think that there are any…shortcuts around this. We do have standards… and a dress code" He said not looking up, some slight innuendo hidden in the word 'shortcuts' and 'dress code'._

_Kagome had been unable to say anything at all, simply nodding and scurrying from the room and back onto the elevator back to her office the laughter of the board members in her ears. She had been embarrassed, humiliated, made to feel stupid and inferior in front of all the big wigs of the entire company, and she hated it. He had not said anything that had crossed any business lines. It was his prerogative as it was his company. She would not cry though, she refused to. She breathed deeply, tears threatening to come, but she would not cry. She would bury it, focus it, and put it elsewhere in her mind. 'Clear the mechanism' she said into her head, a trick she had learned from her father to help her focus. And she did, no one had any idea what had been said to her all day, she had kept it hidden underneath all the way until she had made it home._

_Later..._

Kagome squeezed her eyes closed tapping the glass of wine against her head as she tried to shut the memory out. She shook her head side to side opening moist brown eyes taking another sip of wine. Swirling dark clouds still loomed outside as the only successful Opera of Ruggero Leoncavallo blared from her speakers. This was how she wanted it right now. To be alone, to get a little drunk maybe, and to just relax listening to her music.

This day was not meant to be hers, unfortunately as the sound of keys in the lock of her apartment door signaled Inuyasha's return. She placed the wine down halfhazardly on the coffee table and reached for the remote to her sound system to turn off the music, but before she was able to Inuyasha strode inside looking hagard and worn.

"I'm home" he said simply looking very tired a bit ruffled. "It's rough out there. I think its going to snow" he said removing his scarf and jacket placing them in the closet and putting his bag on a chair and moving into the kitchen. It had taken very little time for Inuyasha to get used to the concept of going to Kagome's refrigerator when he was hungry. Kagome could hear him rummaging around in the kitchen giving her enough time to at the very least wipe the tears away from her eyes and bury away her emotions again as she had all day. She was reaching out to turn off the music again when Inuyasha reappeared apple in hand.

"I know this" he said pointing non specifically at the speakers in the room.

Kagome blinked at him in surprise as she heard Lucianno Pavarotti singing the hauntingly beautiful strains of Vesti La Guibba. "You know 'Pagliacci'?" she asked almost hopefully and a little surprised.

Inuyasha gave her a curious look. "What…no, it's from the Godfather…great movie. I think its in 'The Untouchables' too." He bent into his bag and pulled out a textbook plopping down in an armchair apple in hand.

"Oh" was Kagome's slightly dejected reply. She had hoped faintly that he knew a little something about opera just so she could talk about it with someone. It was no matter though she thought as she reached out to turn off the sound system again. "I'll turn it off so you can study" she said bring a smile to her face.

Not missing the expression on her face Inuyasha jumped in. "No, you can leave it on. It's …not bad." He stated noting her face. "Are you okay?" he asked sensing something underneath her calm exterior.

"Oh me, I'm fine, it's just the music is very beautiful and the story very…tragic." She said waving her hand to deflect the issue. She quickly added, So, how was your first day back?"

"Feh, it was…definitely interesting. It was a first day back you know?" Inuyasha said with an apparent air of content. He had decided after his encounter with Kouga and Myoga that he would use it and let it fuel him to do better. He was undoubtably troubled, but did not want to burden Kagome with his own doubts. They were his to deal with. She on the other hand seemed to him to be crumbling under the pressure of something. She was doing a remarkable job of masking it, but he was gifted at reading people and she couldn't hide that from him. He decided to try something his dad had done to him all throughout his younger years.

"And how was your day?" he asked in return innocently and carefully gauging her reaction.

Kagome in turn was not entirely startled by his question. She figured he would reciprocate. Her right eyebrow twitched ever so slightly as she spoke. "Oh you know…Monday…busy busy busy." She laughed hoping inwardly that this would suffice for now. She didn't like being standoffish she just didn't want to deal with it at the moment.

"A little early to start drinking isn't it?" Inuyasha asked indicating her glass of wine with his apple and throwing his legs over one arm of the chair.

Kagome glanced down at her wine glass and back at Inuyasha again. She shrugged her shoulders picking it up and taking a sip. "Just unwinding after a long day is all" she replied standing up and walking a few paces away one arm crossed over her waist, the other resting on that arm.

"Isn't that something" Inuyasha spoke again glancing outside at the darkness that had crept upon the apartment now that the sun had gone down.

Kagome whirled suddenly, unsure how to take this comment. "What do you mean by that?" she all, but snapped at him.

Inuyasha did not react at all and when Kagome saw he was looking out the window. Fixing her with his gaze he nodded his head at the window. "It's snowing" he replied.

Kagome turned to look out the window. He was indeed correct, it was snowing lightly, big white fluffy flakes of snow as they had both predicted at different times that day. The wind had died down and the snow could be seen falling gently down on the city covering it in white. A light crimson stained her features that she was sure that Inuyasha could not see in this light. He was getting to her and she did not know why. He wasn't probing as far as she could tell, but he was getting a rather extreme reaction out of her. However, he seemed to be taking it with a grain of salt.

"So it is" she commented dryly.

"What? You don't like snow?" he asked, he himself getting up.

She turned to see him approach and greeted him with a weak smile as she gently twisted in place. Her melancholy mood was coming out a little bit now, but she felt a little more okay with that. Inuyasha seemed to be chalking it up to her having a long day and so felt she could drop her guard ever so slightly. "No, I like it just fine, it's just…cold."

"Don't' I know it" Inuyasha commented jokingly coming up beside her to look out the window.

"Mhmm" was Kagome's only response turning to offer another smile to Inuyasha.

Inuyasha stepped a little closer to her on her right side. The two lapsed into a comfortable silence for few minutes before Inuyasha turned to Kagome again. "Tell me about that opera you were listening to" he prodded gently.

Kagome turned to look at him inquisitively. "Pagliacci?" she asked. "You really want to know?" she asked her choclate eyes shining hopefully in the dim light.

Inuyasha turned to meet her gaze. "Yeah, tell me about it" he said turning to watch the snow falling again. "First, though want to go out on the balcony?" he asked.

Kagome's smile dropped from her face. "The balcony…but its cold" she said.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "We can always come back inside. Come on, I'll make us hot choclate, okay?" he asked. "You'll have to put down the wine, though. I don't think they go well together".

Kagome thought about it for a moment before agreeing reluctantly. "Okay" As Inuyasha hurried off to make the hot choclate Kagome placed her wine down and stepped out onto the balcony. She wrapped her arms around herself as the cold air met her skin. It was cold, but not unbearable. For the time being she took her time to look out over the city. It was very pretty indeed, lights twinkling and snow falling. She had a great view of the city, especially at night. And tonight with the snow falling and lights of the city reflecting off the snowflakes making them shine like millions of diamonds it was breathtaking.

"So now, tell me about this opera" Inuyasha said coming up beside her and handing her her coco in a mug with little reindeers ice skating on a pond. Steam rose from the mug and she greatfully accepted it from him, holding it in her hands to warm them.

Kagome took a sip and began. "Well, it's a tragic love story." She phrased carefully. "It's about a band of performers, a husband, wife, and two others. The husband loves his wife, but she is not faithful to him which he eventually finds out making a fool out of him…a clown. That's what Pagliacci means…clown. He even finds out that everyone else, but him knew about it. He goes mad with grief and has to bottle it up to go play a clown in their show, but he can't contain himself. He ends up killing her in the end because of it during the show itself. It's very sad" she said carefully twisting the mug around in her hand. "People don't like being made fools of" she added bitterly.

"I see. Sounds like a hell of an opera" Inuyasha commented mildly. Kagome merely nodded her head in response. "So…this clown guy…in the opera…gets hurt and feels that they are the butt of all the jokes? Is that right?" Inuyasha said testing out the waters.

"Yes" was Kagome's simple response as she felt tears beginning to form in her eyes as she gulped and looked up towards the sky in a effort to stop herself. She had the distinct feeling that what they were talking about wasn't really what they were talking about.

"And this clown…in the opera…wants to be taken seriously. Is that right?" Inuyasha continued.

Kagome nodded and took another deep breath. "Yes" she continued feeling herself on the edge of breaking down.

"And this clown…in the opera…has to bottle it all up inside so that they are taken seriously? Is that right?"

Kagome took a sip of the hot choclate to calm herself a little. "Yeah…so that's what Pagliacci is about" she said turning away slightly. A moment of silence was interuppted as she felt Inuyasha's hand on her shoulder. She turned to face him and choclate met amber as he spoke to her.

"You know what I would have done if I was that guy?" he asked.

Kagome shook her head no as she looked up at him.

"Just kept on laughing. Throw them for a loop. Don't keep it all inside just put it into something else. Because in the end its not what they think, but what you do with it that matters" Inuyasha said dropping the pretense at last. "You want to talk about it?" he asked her.

Still looking at him in the face Kagome finally broke down a bit letting her walls down and telling him the whole story of what happened that day.

"I feel like I'm being kind of silly, really. All of this just because of one guy. God, I'm such a girl" Kagome sighed exasperatedly her tears finally finished.

Inuyasha shook his head. "No, your boss was being a dick. In front of the whole board of directors I mean…fuck. Anyone can see that you're good at your job. You couldn't have come as far as you have if you weren't. I've known your for what…four days and I can see that. I think your boss might just be testing you, see if you can handle it in there with the big guns.

Kagome nodded her head absently, "You might be right".

"Of course, I'm right. Although, I think that maybe killing them like Pagliacci might not be such a bad idea. I'll help…I'll be your alibi." Inuyasha said smiling.

Kagome swatted his arm playfully. "Thanks, Inuyasha, I'll do that" she said smiling.

"Okay, you feel better, now?" he asked

"Much" Kagome replied and leaned in to give him a hug. She was glad that she had someone to talk to. Someone to open up to. Maybe it was because their relationship had started out in such an unusual way and so very honest from the start. No lies, no pretense, no façade to hide behind for either of them. "Thanks, Inuyasha".

"You're very welcome" he said wrapping his arms around her and giving her a light squeeze in return.

Kagome unconciously snuggled a little closer to Inuyasha as it was a very cold outside and she wasn't wearing a jacket and he was very warm, she could feel the heat coming from his body. Smiling to herself and closing her eyes she thought of how comfortable this was and how even standing up she could fall asleep right here. She was snapped out of this train of thought by Inuyasha's chuckling, which reverberated through his chest.

"What's so funny?" she asked him releasing her hold on him.

"Your hair" was his reply.

"What about it?" she asked in annoyance.

"It's covered in snow. You look like you're ninety." He said laughing still.

Indeed it was true, the two had been standing outside for awhile now and Kagome's hair had been covered in the tiny ice crystals. "Oh," was her response and Kagome shook her head in an attempt to rid herself of the snowflakes.

"Here, let me do it" Inuyasha sighed reaching over and brushing the snow out of her hair gently.

Kagome stood there as he gently brushed the snow from her long black tresses feeling his hand carefully passing his fingers through her hair so as not to injure her with his claws. Kagome's breath slowed at the intimate contact unable to move away. She simply stood and stared at him, her choclate brown eyes wide as he worked. He moved in closer to allow himself better access to her hair, which did not help Kagome in the slightest. His movements were slow and deliberate as he removed the snow. Inadvertently one of his fingers brushed her cheek causing Kagome to go red at the touch her chest rising and falling rapidly. Her breath hitched in her throat as he stopped, his hand still in her hair, resting just behind her ear as he scrutinized her.

"There" he said softly looking down on her as he looked her over to make sure he had gotten all of it.

The two were very close now, seperated by six inches or less. Kagome looked up at Inuyasha almost shyly her eyes darting over his face as he held her head and briefly wondered what it would have been like if she'd met Inuyasha a few years earlier when she was still in school. She sensed what might happen if they remained there much longer and crazed, weak minded female she was, she did not know if she wanted to or not. Face flushed at the thought and at the immobilization of both of them, Kagome finally took the initiative.

Breaking free from his grasp Kagome walked briskly inside. "Thanks, I'm going to get a …towel to dry off my hair. Then, I think I'm going to go to bed…it's been a long day and I'm not all that hungry. Help yourself to dinner. Goodnight" she said disappearing upstairs.

Inuyasha stood their for a moment confused before grabbing the two discarded mugs of hot choclate and entered the apartment again, and closing the door to the terrace. He shook his head slighty in confusion. Was she blushing? He shook his head and clicked his tongue. Of course not, her cheeks were just red from the cold. And without another thought proceeded to the kitchen to get something to eat.

-----------------------------------------

Ta DA. And another chapter bites the dust. I hope you enjoyed that. I tried to make this chapter a tad bit different from the rest of the story. Initially I had wanted to have that up by Christmas, but that didn't work, obviously. Anyway though, I thought also at the end of this I'd take some time to answer a few questions that I've gotten in my reviews awhile ago, which I'm sorry to say I'd completely forgoten about. So, Arishi if you are still out there, here it is.

Why is this story called 'At Night'? I'm not entirely sure how to answer this without really giving it away, but hopefully you will be able to figure this out as the story continues. This chapter might help clarify a little bit. Either that or I'm horrible at coming up with titles. What I will say about it is that the theme of nighttime will play an important role in the story. I hope this helps…if not just yell at me some more and I'll come up with a better answer.

So, I am going back to school in a few days and unfortunately you know what that means. I will do my utmost best to find some time to sit down and write, but please, please, please do not give up on me. I love the reaction my story has gotten from you guys and your support and reviews are very important to me. They really do make me smile when I read them. So a big thank you goes out to anyone who has read or reviewed my story so far and to anyone in the future as well.

So until next time…

StarvingArtistinNY

Words of Wisdom from me:

"Skating on thin ice is better than not skating at all"

--John M. Shanahan


	8. Ch 8: Interrupting the Status Quo

Greetings, my faithful readers. I realize of course that this update is a long time in coming, but this seems to simply be how I work and function with my writing. I don't mean to keep any of you in suspense; it's just how it seems to be working out at this time with my life and the like. Before we begin however, I would like to say some thank you's and answer a few questions from the reviews I have been reading. The first question.

When are Inuyasha and Kagome going get together?

This is a good question. I am not entirely sure about that myself. Okay, that' s not entirely true, however, keep in mind that they have technically only known each other a few days so at the moment the attraction is mainly physical at least on Kagome's part and they do need to spend a little time getting to know each other first. There are more reasons why not now, but that would be giving it all away so you will have to be patient and let me simply say that the anticipation is half the fun. Let me conclude by simply saying…later.

Next, is Kouga going to attempt to intervene in Inuyasha and Kagome's relationship? My thoughts at this time are most likely. It might not be exactly like the show as obviously there are different circumstances setting them up, but I figure that something could very well happen.

Finally, although not a review exactly a few people have asked me if I am going to write any other stories and while I'm not entirely sure if I'm going to write it, especially all too soon as I'm working on this story, obviously, but I figured I'd let you know where my thoughts are on a new one, obviously another Inuyasha AU, I love alternate reality, I find it much easier, this one set in 1800's Ireland called "Devil's Dance Floor", also based off of a song by the same name. Do we see a trend here? It will be a little less funny, a little darker because I would like to try and challenge myself a little so we'll see. I don't know; let me know what you guys think.

Finally, I want to thank maboroshi kaji1 for drawing fan art for me and my story. I would love to actually be able to see it as either the messed up and removed the link or something so if you sent it again I would love to see it. So nonetheless thank you very much, I was very touched that you did that for me. And that goes for everyone who reviews my story. It really makes me happy to know I have people out there who enjoy what I write. Enough of that, however. On with the show.

**At Night**

**Chapter VIII: Interrupting the Status Quo**

It had been a few weeks since Kagome and Inuyasha's briefest of moments on the balcony, a moment which, although had led to various moments of blushing and embarrassment on Kagome's part over the next few days had led to a definite deepening of their relationship with the other. For a day or two it had led to every time Inuyasha would pass by Kagome would clam up and stare at him like she was some kind of doe eyed schoolgirl which would lead to a confused expression on Inuyasha's face once he noticed and a "What?" from Inuyasha to which Kagome would quickly respond with, "Nothing" usually a little louder than she intended. However, once Kagome calmed down a little bit it had progressed to an easy going relationship with her newfound roommate. In the morning Kagome would go to work and Inuyasha to class. Every night Kagome would come home, usually to find Inuyasha reading on her couch, sometimes randomly asleep with books spread out over himself or the coffee table. Usually, this led to Kagome waking him up loudly by banging pots and pans together, which Inuyasha did not appreciate especially to his sensitive ears, but had almost become a ritual as of late. They would talk about their day, or do work opposite one another in comfortable silence, occasionally broken by ambient noise from the city below or clearing of throats and sneezing. Nevertheless, the simplicity of the their relationship and the simple fact that Kagome was no longer living alone and had someone to come home to made the past two weeks some of the most enjoyable since she had moved to New York.

Currently the two were sitting opposite one another on the couch, Kagome, dressed in a long sleeve tee-shirt sat cross legged, reading glasses on her face as she balanced her lap-top in her lap as she poured over some details for her latest project, an advertising campaign for Nike of all companies which was rather exciting in itself. Currently she was working out the finer details of a men's casual dress shoe ad, at the moment trying to come up with either the correct model or celebrity to endorse it. She was glancing back at forth between the final two selections, both side by side on her LCD flat screen. Her concentration was so great that she didn't notice the book being flung across the room at her and snapping the laptop shut, almost crunching her fingers in the process as the book lay squarely on top of her laptop.

"Hey!" was her startled reply she pulled her fingers back just in the nick of time.

"I'm sick of reading" was Inuyasha's reply as he spread out on the couch stretching so that his white socked feet came in contact with hers. "Quiz me, woman" he said nodding his head forward to look at her.

A comically annoyed expression on her face, Kagome leaned forward to slide the book off of her laptop and back onto Inuyasha's legs. "Do I look like your tutor?" she said leaning back and opening her laptop again.

"No" came his simple response as the book came sailing back to snap her laptop shut again. "You look like my sugar momma. Now less talkie more quizzie." He said waving his hand at her.

Kagome chuckled in spite of herself rolling her eyes and giving him a look of 'you are so immature'. In a way relieved to have a brief respite from her work. It had been a busy day, and as much as she loved her job, did not relish the thought of taking her work home with her. "All right, fine, you big jerk" she said sarcastically. She opened the book to the dog eared paged he had been reading and scanned around until she found a bold-printed term on the page. "Okay then…define the disease…..Epid..er..molly…sis…." Kagome struggled to read the strange term.

"Epidermolysis Bullosa Simplex?" Inuyasha queried.

Kagome raised her head glared at him, a sardonic expression on her face. "Yes, Mr. Smarty Pants."

Inuyasha smirked, "Feh, you could have picked something harder to start with. Now, then Epidermolysis Bullosa Simplex is A blistering skin condition usually inherited as an autosomal dominant disease." He smiled clearly pleased with himself and the language he was using.

"The faulty genes are those that provide instructions for producing keratin, a fibrous protein in the top layer of skin. As a result, the skin splits in the epidermis, producing a blister." He finished with flourish. "I'm good, now ask me something harder"

Kagome closed the book to look at him quizzically. "How do you memorize this stuff anyway? It's all kind of confusing to me…granted I went to school for communications and advertising, but still" Kagome said gently tapping the cover of the book with her thumbs.

Inuyasha looked up at her again, his mouth turned to one side, a clear sign that he was thinking. "Well…I suppose it's a lot like Legos." He began.

Kagome couldn't stop herself from laughing. "Are you seriously comparing medicine to Legos?" she asked a giggle escaping every now and again.

Inuyasha's expression remained the same as he continued. "I know it sounds silly, but hear me out, okay?"

Kagome leaned back to await his answer. "Oh, by ALL means continue…" she said in anticipation of what his explanation was.

Inuyasha cleared his throat and continued. "Just like with Legos, you just build on what you know. It may be confusing as to what you're doing at first, but once you have the basic structure you can build on it and eventually build whatever you want" he finished laying his head back down.

Kagome snorted and shook her head, "I can't believe you just actually compared Medicine to Legos. You could have compared to anything else…like math…or gardening…I just can't believe you sometimes" she teased.

"And I can't believe you snort when you laugh" Inuyasha prodded back.

Kagome went wide eyed and clasped her hands over her mouth. "I do" she asked genuine concern in her voice. If this was true she had no idea. Had she spent her entire life snorting without anyone informing her? Was she just that oblivious?

Sitting up fully Inuyasha bent his legs so his feet touched and dropped his hands to his knees. "You didn't know?" a baffled expression on his face.

Kagome took her hands down from her mouth opened it a few times as if to say something before shutting her mouth, her eyes narrowing and a frown forming on her lips. "Shut up…jerk" she pouted tossing the book back onto his chest, which he caught, letting the momentum of the throw take him back onto the couch.

"Whatever, woman." He laughed as he opened the book again.

"Just study your….anatomy or whatever so that you're useful to me" Kagome taunted back standing up and making her way to the kitchen to grab a glass of water.

A sly grin reached Inuyasha's lips beneath his textbook. "Oh, so I'm only good for …that...huh? Perhaps, you would help me out with female anatomy, hm?" he asked suggestively.

Kagome, thankfully out of the room at the other time, froze, almost spilling the glass of water she held in her hand, as what he had said just hit, making her blush positively crimson with embarrassment.

She grabbed a nearby banana and taking step into the living room hurled the fruit at Inuyasha. "That is NOT what I meant and you know it" she said frustration filling her voice.

Inuyasha caught the banana and began unpeeling and eating it, but not before giving her a wink and indicating the rather phallic object in his hand and saying, "How very appropriate".

Kagome glowered at him and made her way to the staircase. "You can be impossible sometimes you know".

"Go take a cold shower, it'll help" Inuyasha continued to tease taking another bite of the banana.

Kagome let out a frustrated sigh and up the stairs of her apartment. She wasn't really angry, just embarrassed slightly at her inadvertent innuendo. She hated being one upped; it was aggravating, especially since she considered herself to be an intelligent young woman. She usually won the mental battles with her male counterparts. And he was capable of doing it things it so easily. In a way it was a good thing that he agitated her. This way she could stay emotionally detached attracted to him physically, but not intimately. Her mind and conscious decided to chime in at this thought adding that it wouldn't be a bad idea to actually have relationship with Inuyasha. Then she wouldn't be lying to so many people. Shaking these thoughts free from her head she retorted against herself, no, it was a bad idea, she was too busy for a real relationship anyway, and it would only overcomplicate things. The point was that she would emerge from their breakup as strong and independent. Besides, less than a month ago he was picking rotten potato spuds out of alley ash cans. Quickly countering her mind shouted back at her not to dismiss or diminish him. She sighed heavily knowing that her head was right about that, he was a great guy, but she was sticking by her initial reaction, make it look real, but don't let it be real. She liked things the way they were now, the status quo, being his friend.

She debated taking a shower NOT because he had suggested it, but because it had been a long day and a relaxing shower might be nice, but she opted instead to enjoy a nice bath instead this way she could relax without giving Inuyasha anything to laugh about when he heard the water running.

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Inuyasha half jogged up the steps to the admissions building, his messenger bag slung over one shoulder, books clasped firmly in his opposite hand as he leaned precariously to one side to keep it all in balance. He slipped inside as another student held the door for him. He gave them a brief nod which they didn't return and continued his half jog half trudge over to the admissions desk. After reaching the desk he jumped up to sit on it, leaning backwards and picking up a clipboard that hung from a nail just under him. Glancing down at the time sheet in front of him he scowled as he read it. Information Processing? That did not sit well with him.

"Hey, old bat. What's the deal? Why am I working information processing, I hate that. How come I'm not working the front desk? Inuyasha had pounced on this work-study job immediately after being accepted into the school. It helped him pay his way through school and start recovering from being bankrupt as well as giving him ample time to study.

Kaede glanced up at him from the stack of papers she was sitting behind and tapped the pen absently on said stack a look of motherly disdain upon her wrinkled features. "Because…ye have been scaring the prospective students. So ye will be working as far away from them as possible, young wretch." Kaede said with her usual monotone voice and went back to filling out the forms she had been previously filling out until she had been interrupted by the rude half-demon.

"Ah, that's bull…I mean that's …crap." Inuyasha said, thinking he had chosen his words a little more carefully. Kaede only raised her one good eye to stare blankly at the half-demon before lowering it again as if she had proven her point. Turning to face front for a moment just in time to see a family of the aforementioned prospective students, holding bags from the campus bookstore and wearing matching NYU sweatshirts stare at him for a moment before scurrying away. He did seem to have that effect on his fellow students at times. Inuyasha turned back and sighed. "Come on that completely does not count" He indicated their retreating forms. "…Kaede, you know that the front desk pays way better than IP. I need the money" Inuyasha said through gritted teeth.

Kaede didn't bother looking up again preferring it seemed to continue jotting away at the stack of paper in front of her. "And why is that?" she inquired despite still not looking at him.

Inuyasha thought about it for a moment before answering. He was not quite sure how to answer. He was working his way out of debt and trying to re-establish his bank account, but he other reasons as well. Kagome; although he was not prone to overly kind gestures he felt he needed to make some small gesture to work his debt off to her as well. So, every spare bit of cash he could take aside he was saving to get Kagome something nice. The holidays were fast approaching and although he didn't have anything in mind just yet he was working on it. "I need to buy a present for my…girlfriend" Inuyasha finally said, struggling to get that last bit out. It's not that he wouldn't' be proud to have Kagome as his girlfriend, she was incredible, smart, good looking, a ton of fun, he just didn't like disclosing his personal life to people he didn't know.

This revelation did however cause Kaede to pause once more and look up at the bashful hanyou. "Ye have a girlfriend…poor dear. She must have the patience of a saint." Kaede mused. She looked back to Inuyasha with an indecisive look on her face. There was a tense pause as Inuyasha held his breath, feeling nervous, unable to come up with a comeback to Kaede's gibe about him having a girlfriend. "Next week, I'll let ye try again just…try to be less confrontational. The young ones scare easy." She concluded once more slipping back to her paperwork.

Inuyasha's face lit up at this, happy enough that he almost hugged her. However, merely sat there awkwardly for a second attempting to create some forward momentum to give her a hug, but instead merely leaned over gawkily giving her a pat on the head. "Thanks Kaede. Gotta go, I've got class and I'll work on that…less scary thing, promise" he said jumping off the counter and flashing her a smirk.

Kaede said nothing, merely raising her hand dismissively as Inuyasha hefted his bag back on his back, adjusting it to a comfortable position and half jogging down the hallway. Seeing the same family he had scared earlier getting back on the elevator he yelled out. "Hey…you, hold that elevator…I want to talk to you about this place" he shouted turning and giving Kaede a cocky, 'I've got this' smile.

Kaede snorted in reply still working away at the stack of papers. Despite her outwardly prickly demeanor towards the young half-demon, Kaede did have a soft spot towards Inuyasha. Usually, the front desk was temporarily filled with work-study students who were lazy and only at the position to be paid and nothing more, as if entitled to it. They were usually fake and insincere, whereas Inuyasha was extraordinarily straightforward and honest as well as a fantastic worker, thus she did not have to fire him after a few days as she had the past few employees. And although she gave him a hard time of it, she was glad that he had someone in his life. If there was one thing she was sure of was that Inuyasha had a good heart, if not immediately clear to others. She was distracted by the clearing of someone's throat as she glanced up to see a smarmy looking Kouga standing in front of her. She let out an audible sigh of displeasure and used her big red rubber stamp to apply an 'Approved' mark to the form she had been working on.

"What do ye want?" she asked curtly, obviously not thrilled about the wolf demon's presence.

Kouga stared at Kaede with a look of feigned shock. "Oh, come now, my dear, sweet, old Kaede. Is that anyway to treat your favorite alumni?" he asked in a sugary voice, dripping with sarcasm.

"Yes" was Kaede's only response.

Kouga snorted and laughed quietly. "Oh, Kaede you have such a witty and urbane sense of humor" he said leaning forward on the desk and snatching the pen from her aged hand.

Kaede looked up once more, a look of aggravation clearly present on her face. She could easily grab another pen from the Snoopy coffee mug which held all the other writing utensils in it, but knew that Kouga would not leave her alone unless she paid attention to him. "What do ye want?" she repeated adding a fake smile which lasted all of two seconds before it dropped into a scowl.

Kouga leaned forward returning the smile. "So, dog breath has a girlfriend, does he?" Kouga asked, his voice clearly egging Kaede on to reveal more.

"So I hear" Kaede said preferring to keep her response short and concise.

Kouga cleared his throat softly, not to attract attention, but to appear nonchalant, "So what do you know about it?" he asked trying to catch her eye.

"Only that he has one. What concern of ye's is it?" Kaede asked, well aware of the rivalry between the two when they were in school together. It had been legendary amongst students and faculty alike.

Kouga shrugged and laughed the question off. "No concern, just amazed that some girl would be desperate enough to go out with that ugly mutt. Anyway though, you hear more about it…let me know…always good for a laugh, you know" Kouga continued to laugh, sticking Kaede's pen in his pocket and walking off. Kaede angrily glowered after him, retrieving a new pen and continuing to work away. Kouga may have been one of the brightest graduates in years, but subtly was not one of his traits either. Whatever he was up to it was certainly no good, and Kaede knew instinctually that she would protect Inuyasha from whatever that man had up his sleeve.

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Inuyasha strode into his next class, greeting his lab partners with a polite nod and placing his things on the lab table, ready to begin. His clinical medicine lab was one of his favorites because it was an actual hands on approach to what he being lectured in Dr. Mioshi's class. It was not taught by him, but rather by another colleague of his, one Dr. Shippo Anikage. He was a fox demon, and although many times Inuyasha's senior, he looked like a child. At least in terms of his physical appearance, but his reddish brown eyes held the accumulated wisdom of his years of experience. Appearance aside however, he was definitely a harsh taskmaster when it came to his demands and expectations for the class. Not nearly as difficult as Dr. Mioshi, but certainly no pushover as some were inclined to think. Dr. Anikage had been in his second year as an assistant professor when Inuyasha had been a first year medical student and now was a full fledged tenure professor, one of the youngest in the history of the university. He had been ecstatic to see Inuyasha waltz into his lab class, and it certainly helped having a professor who enjoyed having him in class, as opposed to Myoga who seemed to like to make things as difficult as possible for Inuyasha during his daily lectures. And of course Kouga took particular delight when Inuyasha was unable to deliver an answer. They had begun the first few weeks, learning to put I.V. 's into the vein, make various incisions, suturing, and the like and today was…

"The chest tube", Dr. Anikage began. "One of the most fundamental and basic procedures you will need to learn". Shippo Anikage grasped the chest tube showing it off to his class, and pausing as some gathered closer for a better look at him in the center of the room. Glancing around the room to make sure all of his students were paying close attention, he continued. "It is also one of the most difficult for med students to grasp because the procedure itself" he forcibly shoved the chest tube into the side of a practice dummy making everyone in the room wince. He chuckled lightly at this and flashed a smile. "I told you, now, remember, be forceful, not violent, forceful. Away you go, lab rats" he finished as the group broke up to attempt the procedure as he walked around offering guidance.

Inuyasha watched as his own lab partners attempted to force the chest tube into their practice dummy, "Buster" it had been named unanimously by the lab group after the character from 'Arrested Development' not 'Mythbusters' as the common thoughts were. He watched as his lab partners struggled to place the chest tube correctly, either not placing it forcefully enough, or being overzealous and causing simulated internal damage in the dummy. And the attempts of the entire class seemed to mirror Inuyasha's lab table as well.

"Don't worry, all, practice makes perfect, that's why you're here", Dr. Anikage's voice rang out above the sounds of various med students attempting to get the chest tube insertion correct. "Come on now, it's not rocket science…it's just medicine" Shippo laughed at his own joke, looking around expectantly to see if anyone else did. When no one did he stifled his laughter and watched intently as he watched the next attempt.

As Inuyasha was handed the chest tube from one of his frustrated lab partners he looked down at the 'Buster' calmly. Placing one palm flat on the dummy's chest he lined the tip of the tube up with the opening in the side of the dummy. Then, after readjusting the grip firmly, but not violently thrust the chest tube in, no simulated injury involved. Letting his breath out slowly Inuyasha allowed a smile that had been playing with the corners of his mouth arise.

"Well done, Mr. Takashiro very well done. Everyone, come look and see, Mr. Takashiro has done it" Dr. Anikage's voice rang out behind Inuyasha, startling him. He placed a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder and patted it in praise. He made Inuyasha perform the procedure again for the class several times so that they could see one of their own do it correctly. It received mixed feelings from his class, some people patting him on the back, mouthing "He's our lab partner" to the rest of the class, others scowling fiercely at him, disliking that they were thus far incapable of completing the procedure, and a few others staring at him in admiration, and even earning the smiles, winks, and waves of a few of the female students. Inuyasha tried not to think about it too much or show that he was thinking about it outwardly. Inwardly, however, he let it feed his confidence and ego just a tad. He received so little praise that when it was given, it was not squandered. After this, they were assigned various scenarios to diagnose and treat using the procedures they had learned over the past weeks.

When the lab had ended Inuyasha picked up his messenger bag and threw it over his shoulder, his red scarf thrown over one shoulder. Despite the niceness of his new clothes, Inuyasha still appeared to be rather helter-skelter when it came to getting organized. As he strode out the door, Shippo's voice stopped him.

"You did well today, Mr. Takashiro" Shippo said smiling.

"Um…thank you" was Inuyasha's take aback, but gracious reply.

"I mean it. You're doing well. And even though it's none of my business, just so you know, if it were up to me you would be a fully instated student again. If you would like, you can sit in on my advanced practices class. No credit I'm afraid, but it might give you a bit of a leg up for Dr. Mioshi's lectures, eh?" he said kindly.

Inuyasha was stunned, "Oh, yes, of course, of course….thank you Dr. Anikage".

"Shippo if you please…Tuesdays, five o clock, I expect to see you there." Shippo said kindly as he exited the room leaving Inuyasha alone. Inuyasha was stunned and aware that there were still classes going on, silently pumped a fist in the air in victory. He couldn't believe it, he couldn't freaking believe it. Everything was just falling into place, perfectly.

He jumped up on his lab table leaning 'Buster' up and throwing an arm around him. "Thanks buddy, I owe you one" and giving him a hearty pat on the back, perhaps too hard as the head popped off the torso and was sent rolling across the room. It rolled until foot lifted slightly to allow the head to roll under it and come to a stop. Glancing up to the owner of the foot, Inuyasha's face fell. "What are you, stalking me?" Inuyasha practically snarled at Kouga.

Kouga stood in the doorway, foot planted firmly on the aforementioned head of the dummy 'Buster'. Bending down he picked it up in one hand and leaned back in the doorframe, tossing it from hand to the other. "It's a free country isn't it?" Kouga said shrugging his shoulders, but clearly enjoying the fact that he was aggravating his rival.

"Feh, typical ass-holic response" Inuyasha countered using his arms to propel him down from the lab table. "Now, what do you want?" Inuyasha demanded.

Kouga put his hands up, "Oh come now, no need to be hostile. I just wanted to see how my favorite _student_ is doing is all" he said emphasizing the word student.

Narrowing his eyes Inuyasha fired back, "Well to my favorite graduated _Teaching Assistant_," Inuyasha emphasized just as Kouga had done and leaned forward, stage whispering the last of it, "I'm doing just fine".

Snorting in response, Kouga nodded his head in acknowledgement silently saying, 'touché' to the half-demon. Not finished however, he spoke up again, "I hear you have a girlfriend dog face" he said laying it on the table.

Inuyasha did his best to visibly react, but unable to keep his eyes from flashing angrily. "And what of it"? Inuyasha spat, livid that his personal life had been exposed, fake or not. Kagome was anyone's business, but his own.

Kouga smirked, not having missed the flash of his eyes and took a few steps into the room. "I don't know who I should feel worse for, you or her. She's obviously desperate …probably a fat chick to be going for you. Good for you though, you found someone" Kouga spat back, his dislike for Inuyasha apparent.

Inuyasha nearly lost it, not for his own sake, or the insults to himself, but he would not let this demon trash insult her, not her. She had saved him and he'd be damned if he let anyone malign her. "Don't you _dare_ insult Kagome, or it will be the last thing on this green earth you do, and my face the last thing you see, understand"? Inuyasha threatened his voice low and venom dripping from his words.

Kouga had not been prepared for this reaction to his words; he'd expected an angry response, but nothing like this. Visibly shaken and angered at this sign of weakness himself, he quickly recovered and came up with a response. "So, the bitch has a name."

Kouga was wearing very thin on Inuyasha's last nerve and it showed. "What did say?" Inuyasha demanded taking furious steps forward to stand toe to toe with the wolf demon.

"You heard me" was Kouga's immediate reply, not backing down as the two circled each other, switching positions in the room.

"You better apologize, or else" Inuyasha threatened staring him straight in the eyes raising his hand to come even with Kouga's chest, gold clashing with darkest brown.

"Or else what? You'll hit me? I will slap assault charges on you so fast it'll make your head spin." Kouga answered him smirking.

Inuyasha said nothing, but lowered his eyes and his fist his ears drooping slightly in an admission of defeat.

"That's what I thought….good puppy" Kouga answered him oily slick, letting the thrill of his mental victory over Inuyasha drip from his words.

The next moment was a blur as Inuyasha's right fish crashed upwards into the bottom of Kouga's jaw sending him off his feet and onto the lab table, knocked out cold. Inuyasha smiled at Kouga's inert form, knowing that he would never actually press charges as he would have to admit that he'd been one hit KO'ed and Kouga's pride, much like Inuyasha's would never admit that. Inuyasha's cocky smirk lined not only his face, but his entire self as he walked out of the room, a particular skip in his step, whistling to himself. Yes, today was a good day.

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Kagome sat at large oblong table in the conference room tabbing her black fine point Bic pen on her yellow legal pad. She was doing so trying to calm her nerves, a few of the other executives milled around drinking coffee, chatting with one another, sipping coffee, reviewing notes, and the like. Kagome went through these motions as well, chatting idly with anyone who spoke with her, sipping at cinnamon spiced coffee from 'Dunkin Donuts'. Kagome was half in the room and half out of it, the half that was out of the room was concentrating on the upcoming task at hand, which was presenting and hopefully selling her pitch for the Nike account. It certainly would be a feather in her cap or a gold star on her resume when it came to her career. It wasn't as if hadn't landed other accounts either, truth be told since being employed by Whytecrosse Advertising she had secured quite a bit of business for them, a Coke contract, J-Crew, Tiffany's, and a few other names to boot. However, even though this was a collaborative effort as a whole, the individual people within this corporate monster still competed with one another. One had to if they wanted to secure a future for themselves in the company or at least hope for advancement of any kind.

Today's meeting, while not under the watchful eyes of Mr. Whytecrosse himself, was being overseen by many of his executives, including Mr. Whytecrosse's number two man, and Vice-President of the company, an older man named Totosai, who unlike his superior was a sweet, somewhat absent minded, older man with a fantastic sense of humor. Kagome often felt he was a wonderful grandfather type figure, very comforting and a huge proponent of Kagome's work. As if on cue, Totosai strode into the room talking animatedly with a group of three well dressed persons, presumably the execs from Nike. Kagome rose and made her way over to shake hands with each of them and introduce herself as did everyone else in the room and once introductions were out of the way everyone sat down again and Totosai stood up in front of everyone.

"I'd like to welcome everyone from Nike here to Whytecrosse Advertising. We have had some of our top Ad Execs working ROUND the clock to come up with some great advertising campaigns for your new line of men's shoes. And if you aren't convinced that this is the right direction to take well…we'll keep buying you cocktails until you DO think it's the right direction" Totosai finished with a joke earning some polite laughter from the room, including Kagome. He really was a sweet old man and absolutely adorable, completely aware that his jokes were horrible, but completely unabashed in this fact.

"I kid of course, so I suggest we simply let the work speak for itself, shall we?" Totosai said stepping aside getting some polite applause and allowing one of Kagome's co-workers to step up and set up for her presentation. Totosai moved around the oblong hardwood table and sat in the seat across from Kagome. He gave Kagome a nod and a smile as he sat in the swivel chair turning his body to face front, but keeping his head towards Kagome. Kagome lifted her eyebrows, clearly amused by the older man's simple antics. She returned his smile and gave him a small wave before he snapped his attention forward to watch the first presentation and Kagome followed suit.

A middle aged woman stood in front of the group, immaculately dressed as she waited for the brief chatter to die down. The lights in the conference room were dimmed as her slide presentation began. The woman stared intensely at the room. "Sex"! She began and cued up her first slide. Kagome went wide eyed and her face flushed in slight embarrassment at the slide on the screen and an audible reaction came from the rest of the room as well. She had to hand it to her, sex certainly sold. Kagome just would never have thought to take that sort of a risk, but oftentimes in this business risk meant reward.

Several minutes and a few provocative slides later the presentation was done meeting with more polite applause as the lights were returned to normal. Kagome took a breath and stood up, making her to way to the front to set up her presentation. She had chosen a different route to go, inspired by Inuyasha, actually. The idea had come to her a few weeks ago as she was brainstorming ideas and after bouncing her ideas off of Miroku opted they go with the one that had been Inuyasha inspired.

"Good afternoon, I'm Kagome Higurashi and for this particular campaign I decided to go in a different direction with this as well, but…well, I think I'll just let it speak for itself. I hope you enjoy" Kagome stated simply standing to the side as her presentation prepped.

The lights lowered in the room again and her video began. She had opted to shoot a test commercial, albeit more expensive than slides, she thought it captured her concept more completely. The commercial opened on a well dressed man, slick hair, a briefcase, cup of coffee, and a copy of what was presumably the business section of a the newspaper tucked under his arm. He proceeded to walk down the street and as he did various tragedies began to befall him, tattering and dirtying his clothes. First, a car splashed dirty water on him, followed by garbage from a garbage truck landing on him, dust from cement trucks covering him, leaving him looking haggard and rather like a typical New York homeless man. The man arrived at his place of business, where a young and attractive secretary welcomed him, saying, "Good Morning Mr. O'Neil. You look very nice today". The secretary's gaze lowered and the man followed where she was looking, the camera panning down to the shoes he was wearing, clearly showing the dress shoes. Walking to an elevator the man smiled saying, "Thank you, Ms. Reynolds" and the doors closed as a group of people coughed from the dust and smell. The screen went black and the word 'Style' came up on the screen, followed by 'More than the clothes you wear' and finishing smartly with the Nike logo.

Kagome turned away from the screen as the lights were returned to normal, blinking her eyes as they adjusted to the light. She was greeted was some seemingly enthusiastic applause and some encouraging looking chatter from the Nike executives. She smiled politely attempting to mask the exhilaration she felt after the reaction she'd received from everyone. "Thank you," she said and moved to take her seat again. Obviously it meant very little at this point, but it was great to have a positive response and hear the room come a little more alive with talk. It was never a sure thing and there were other presentations to go through so she took comfort in the fact that she had presented solid work and that would be good enough for now. She plopped down in her chair, her face flush from exhilaration. Hearing some attempting to gain her attention, she turned her head to see Totosai whispering, "Psssst" to her as the next presentation set up. She stifled a giggle as he straightened up and mimed himself hitting a baseball and watching it sail farther and farther away. He then mouthed silently to her, "Homerun".

Kagome's face broke into Cheshire cat-like grin. "Really?" she mouthed back to him.

"Absolutely" he mouthed and then as the lights dimmed and caught his attention, he furrowed his eyebrows and mouthed again in mock disciplinary manner, "Pay attention" and pointed animatedly at the front of the room.

Kagome shook her head and giggled giving him a salute and mouthing, "Yes, sir" before turning to watch the rest of the presentations.

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Kagome strode quickly to her office anyone who came into her path stepping to the side of her 'woman on a mission' walk. Arriving at her office she quickly went inside, striding past Sango who did a double-take as she did before jumping up out of her chair to follow Kagome inside.

Inside her office Kagome plopped into her chair limply and let out a full body sigh. She leaned her head back and let her arms flop out of the chair dramatically. Then bolting upright she tapped her feet rapidly on the floor attempting to expel her excess energy. She was taken out of her little world by Sango's voice.

"How'd it go?" Sango asked tentatively, but with excitement clearly laced in her voice.

"Oh my god, gee, Sango you startled me" Kagome said. "Well…I think…I don't know…it's kind of hard to tell…I mean…they seemed to like it".

Sango placed a hand on her hip, "Well they should after all the work that you did on that…I mean you've been stressing about it for weeks and I'm the one who had to deal with it all. You should get it simply so that I didn't suffer for nothing"

Kagome wrinkled her nose at this comment. "Well thank you very much" she added sarcastically.

Sango smacked her in the arm lightly, "Oh, come on, you know I'm just kidding. I just know how hard you worked on it. I'll keep my fingers crossed, 'kay"? She paused for just a moment before continuing. "Should we tell, Miroku?" she asked.

"Eventually, but right now there's nothing to tell. I'll just give him a quick call to let him know the meeting is over." Kagome remarked offhandedly as she reached for her phone.

"That's all right" Sango said placing her hand on Kagome's wrist. "I'll go tell him, you've got lots to do today, I emailed you your schedule for the day".

Kagome sat confused for a moment before realization dawned on her. "Oh…Ooooohhhhhh, sure Sango, go right ahead" Kagome said placing her chin in her hands and wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Sango blushed beat red and waved her hands in protest. "No, no, it's not like that…we're just friends…really. He's just grown on me, that's all."

"Like a fungus, right? Is that what he said? He was right, Sango. I'd watch it if I were you" Kagome teased.

"Oh stop" Sango said turning waving Kagome off with a hand.

"I'm just saying" Kagome said innocently gently slapping her hands on her desk.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah" Sango said. "I'm going now…NOT for the reasons you're insinuating, but because I think he'd like to know. He worked on it too you know." She said waving and exiting the office leaving Kagome to have a moment's peace. However, it was short lived as Totosai entered into her office a moment later.

Kagome nearly jumped out of her chair again, startled for the second time. She didn't have time to say anything before Totosai tossed a folder down on her desk. "It's yours…run with it" he said sitting down in the chair in front of her desk.

Kagome sat dumbfounded for a moment before managing to squeak out, "Really".

Totosai snorted and shook his head. "Of course you got it. I told you that you knocked it out of the park. Didn't you get my baseball reference? Aren't you a Yankee's fan?" he asked her obviously teasing her lightly.

Kagome stuck out her tongue. "Nope, Red Sox, thank you very much. Seriously though… honestly, you're not just stringing me along here are you?"

Totosai snorted again, "Of course I'm not. Nike wanted your concept across the board. And speaking of the board, actually I have another little something else. The board just approved your concept for the 'Toys for Tots' drive gala. Congratulations my dear, you've earned it" he said his eyes twinkling.

Kagome did jump out of her seat at this. She absolutely couldn't believe it, things just seemed to be falling into place perfectly. She grabbed Totosai's hand and shook it vigorously, "Oh my god, thank you, thank you so much" and then abandoning this tactic and going for broke just wrapped the man in a big hug.

Totosai laughed heartily as Kagome almost knocked him off balance. "You're welcome, but you did all the work. He gently pushed her away and handed her another file folder smiling. Those are the final specifications, everything you need to know. It's in your hands now." He sat back and smiled.

Kagome couldn't do anything, but sit there and grin as a wave of pure self-satisfaction swept over her as her world improved, all for the better.

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Kagome entered the apartment to the smell of something absolutely delicious. Removing her coat, hat, and gloves she placed them on her coat hooks and proceeded to the kitchen from where the smell was emanating. She was greeted with the sight of Inuyasha pulling something out of the oven. He was wearing her 'kiss the cook' apron and had two pot holders on his hands, one shaped like a moose's head and the other like a cow. The counter was scattered with various ingredients, what looked like various vegetables, and spices, as well as ground beef and rice. He smirked at the sight of her, inclining his head slightly. "Just in time" he remarked.

"What's all this" she asked placing her keys on the counter.

"Dinner" he stated incredulously shaking his head at her.

Kagome rolled her eyes, "Well obviously it's dinner, but why are you cooking something so …lavish. What's the occasion?" she asked coming over to inspect what had been tempting her nostrils. She leaned over and inhaled again. "This smells delicious" she said.

"Stuffed Green Peppers, one of my favorites, fresh baked Italian bread, some red wine" he noted. "I have good news" he said.

Kagome looked at him grinning broadly letting out a slight scoff. "Coincidentally enough, so do I, so this was a very well timed event, I should say."

"Call it cosmic timing, I suppose" he answered her. "Now, go get everything else set up, I'm not done yet and I don't have time." He said waving her off so as to continue the concentration on his task.

Kagome chuckled at Inuyasha's antics, despite his demanding nature. He was if a little hard around the edges, still doing something very nice and after a day such as this, there was no need her to be angry. Today was even enough for her to forget about that little tiff they'd had a few days prior. She set about getting out silverware, plates, wine glasses, napkins and placing it on the table, under the slightly overzealous direction of Inuyasha. He was a perfectionist, she had learned, and things most certainly had to be a certain way. She supposed it came with the territory, doctors and all. She had no cause for complaint though, merely shooting him a look every once and again when he asked her to move things slightly in various directions until it was right. "What"? He would say a confused and indignant expression on his face.

After the setup, Kagome sauntered back over into the kitchen, folding her arms on the counter and laying her head on them to watch Inuyasha work. Inuyasha was currently working on a salad…perhaps the most carefully organized salad she had ever seen. It had…layers…various layers. It looked like he had laid down a layer of lettuce, then cucumbers, then carrots, peapods, and so on, and then repeated over and over again. And more than that each lettuce slice looked like it had been uniformly cut to match every single other piece of lettuce. She had to admit, despite the very rigid salad in front of him that as she watched his hands worked how careful and precise he was. She'd never actually thought about it, but they were so steady and held such confidence that she imagined that one day he really would be a great doctor. Granted she didn't know anything about it, but she imagined that he could do amazing things with his hands. She stopped for a moment realizing how if she had said what she had just thought out loud it could have been majorly misconstrued. Silently, Kagome thanked god for the inner monologue. Kagome gazed some more at the salad for awhile before Inuyasha finally looked over at her to acknowledge her presence.

"Do you want something?" he asked gruffly.

Kagome spoke deliberately and slow. "I was just wondering…what exactly is it that you're making there?"

Inuyasha eyed her as if she had asked him the most ridiculous question on earth, which was almost true. It was quite obviously a salad. Nonetheless, he answered. "A tossed green salad…why"?

"Tossed?" she prompted.

"Yes…what does it look like…lasagna?" he shook his head and chuckled. "Silly woman" he added as an afterthought continuing to make his perfect salad.

Kagome scoffed and made her way around to him. Inuyasha eyed her warily; he didn't like the look she had in her eye. "Inuyasha…while this is a very…symmetrical salad…it's not a tossed green salad" she said looking from him to the salad.

"What are you talking about, of course it is…look, lettuce, peapods, cucumbers…of course it is" Inuyasha shot back.

"No, it's not the ingredients, it's how it looks." Kagome retorted.

"Well then what _would _make it a tossed green salad, if you're so smart" Inuyasha taunted.

Instead of responding, she grabbed the salad tongs and began to mix up the salad to Inuyasha's horror. He watched as his perfect layers were mixed together and his perfectly sliced lettuce was mixed and torn. "That…is a tossed green salad" Kagome stated proudly.

"You ruined it" he accused.

"I did no such thing. I fixed it" she snapped back.

"Ruined" he responded.

"Fixed" came her quick reply.

"Ruined" was his immediate response.

"Fixed" she said promptly picking up a cherry tomato and putting into his open mouth so as to cut off a response. "Now no more fighting today was good, let's not ruin it." She said sucking the juice off her finger and smiling as she mentally chalked up a win for her.

Inuyasha resentfully chewed the cherry tomato and swallowed it, before speaking again. "Deal…now; what's your good news. This is a dual celebration after all" he said turning back to his salad and rearranging it slightly to make it look a little nicer.

Kagome eyed his doings and reached over to slide the bowl out of his reach, giving him a look of 'it's perfectly fine and there will be no more about it' to silence any protest from him. "You first…you made everything" she prompted him kindly.

Inuyasha smirked, "All right then. I've been asked to join an upper level course, senior level. I'm as good as fully back. It's huge…trust me. This doesn't happen often, it just means that everything is falling into place perfectly." He stated proudly.

Kagome's smile lit up her face as she ran over to give Inuyasha a quick hug, shocking him for a moment as the raven haired girl practically jumped him in her excitement. "That's wonderful, congratulations! You see…I knew I was right to invest in you" Kagome added playfully swatting his arm.

"Thanks, I'd like to think so" he answered. "Now what about you" he asked opening the oven briefly to check on the progress of the meal to come.

"Ooh, actually it was two great things" she began.

"Two…well you trump me" Inuyasha said throwing his hands in the air.

Kagome rolled her eyes, "It's not about trumping…just listen okay. You know that whole Nike thing I was working on?" she asked and Inuyasha responded by nodding his head and 'mhmming'.

"Well," she continued, "The meeting was today and Nike apparently really liked my concept and decided to roll with it. They're going to make my commercial, use my ideas." Her eyes brimmed with excitement. "And…oh just wait…after all of this, the board also approved my concepts for the 'Toys for Tots' drive…which means it's time for you to earn your keep, bucko" she said. "Which reminds me…" she added jogging to her briefcase and coming back with a clear plastic binder. "This is for you" she said handing it to him.

"What's this?" he asked opening it and flipping through the pages.

"Everything about me" she stated. "Everything you'll need to know for that night…I figured now would be a good time for it…you know, where I went to school, my family history, my favorite color…" she started listing off.

"Measurements?" Inuyasha asked evocatively

Kagome gasped at him, grabbing the folder back and smacking him with it. "No…of course not" she said her face red from embarrassment, amusement, and anger.

"What"? Inuyasha stated indignantly, but laughing at the same time. "If I'm your boyfriend I would know these things" he pointed out.

"Yes, but no one is going to ASK you about them at the gala, now are they?" she pointed back.

"I suppose you're right" Inuyasha feigned hurt, but gave her a wink. "Seriously, though congrats. I know how stressed you've been about it and I know I really haven't' made your life any easier."

Kagome shook her head shocked that she was actually receiving an apology of sorts from the half-demon. "No, you've been fine. I'm sorry if I've been a little…testy…just …work you know. I want to make sure this works out, that's all." She admitted giving his hand a pat. "Now…if dinner is almost ready, I'm going to go change out of my work clothes, do I have the time?" she asked.

Inuyasha glanced at the egg timer, "Yep, ten minutes. Wear something nice…this is a celebration after all."

Kagome contemplated this for a moment, truly tickled by the idea. "All right…be right back" she disappearing up the staircase to her room.

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The dinner had been delightful, truly delicious as the two had sat back, toasting and dining on the food Inuyasha had prepared. She had to admit, the man could cook. Kagome had, at Inuyasha's request worn something nice, a casual khaki skirt and pink blouse, simple, but nice. Inuyasha kept what he was wearing on, khaki's with his new favorite red button up, the sleeves rolled up. They had taken turns, toasting one another's brilliance at Kagome's suggestion, hers being long and eloquent, Inuyasha's a simple, 'here's to you', which made Kagome laugh. The meal finished Kagome was still rather antsy. She got up and paced around a little.

"Stop squirming…" Inuyasha said. "You look like someone dumped worms down your back"

Kagome stuck her tongue out at him. "You probably did that to little girls when you were little."

Inuyasha raised flashed a toothy grin, "Still do. Seriously though, what's going on"?

"I don't know…I feel like I want to go …do …something….I mean…I know you should probably go study…I mean, I know how busy you are, I just don't want to have this end so soon. The meal was so good and the wine and…." She sighed. "Everything…I just don't want it to be over".

"It's doesn't have to…I mean, I was going to, but I don't have class tomorrow so I have all day to catch up on the reading I'll be skipping tonight." He said.

"Are you sure…because you don't have to, I have work I could be doing to…"Kagome interjected taking a few nervous steps towards him.

Inuyasha shook his head, "No, of course not. Like I said, this night is a celebration. You have to make time for a little fun too. Otherwise you just become a prick" he said, thinking of a certain ex-classmate of his.

Kagome's eyes glistened softly in the light. Whether he knew it or not, the gesture he'd made was extremely kind. She knew how diligent he was about reading and how much of it he had to do. To sacrifice it for her sake was one of the nicest things he'd done for her…well besides everything else…moving in with her…agreeing to this crazy hair brained scheme of hers. She cast a steady eye on him as she spoke. "Thank you, Inuyasha" she said softly.

Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders. "No, not just that…I mean everything. You saved my life from those guys…agreed to all of this. I owe you more than I can say" she said her eyes shimmering with the truth of her words.

"Feh, it was nothing. I should…be thanking you" he started out slowly as if forming the words was difficult. "You saved my life" he said simply, honesty reflected in his eyes as well.

Kagome didn't say anything else. Instead, she ran over and threw herself into his arms tightly giving him a tight hug. He had already done more for her than almost any man she'd known for years. Inuyasha gave her an awkward pat as she let her hug him tightly, embarrassed slightly as she clung to him. "Okay, okay" he said finally breaking the contact and pushing her away slightly. "Let's not get all gushy, okay?"

Kagome laughed at him, bright and high. "Typical guy" she said snorting, unembarrassed this time. Inuyasha said nothing just shrugging his shoulders.

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The two decided that instead of going out to continue their celebration that they would spend the night in. It was getting late after all and Kagome did have work the next day. Plus, according to the weather channel, there was a Nor'easter headed their way and neither felt like trying to walk or get a taxi in that. Instead they sat down on the couch and vegged out, opting to flip though TV channels instead, arguing about what to watch, throwing pillows at each other, stealing the remote from the other. Inuyasha was particularly good at this game. "Never come between a man and his remote" he had said wagging it tauntingly at her. She stuck her tongue out at him again and he responded by waggling his fingers at her. The two continued on this way for awhile as they watched everything under the sun, from old movies on AMC, to Animal Planet, (There were really cute Meerkats on the show), and a few sitcoms. Kagome settled comfortably into the couch, laughing from time to time when it was appropriate, and throwing popcorn at Inuyasha when it was appropriate as well. Eventually, her eyes began to droop against her will, and would sometimes shoot open as she tried to stay awake, but eventually thought better of fighting against it.

Kagome now lay down, her head resting on Inuyasha's hip, his hand absently stroking her hair. Glancing around the darkened apartment he looked at the clock in the kitchen, the only light coming from the iridescent glow of the television screen. It read 1:21 AM in a soft red glow. Now glancing outside he noted that the weather had indeed worsened as snow could be seen being whipped around in the air, and the audible moan of the wind came to his ears. Finally turning back to the TV currently on Nick at Nite's "I Love Lucy" marathon he looked down at Kagome, who had her eyes closed. "Are you even watching this" he asked quietly so as not to disturb her in case she was asleep.

"Yes" she mumbled sleepily. "It's my favorite episode…the vita…meata…vega…min…girl" she spoke in a slow sigh and snuggled into the warmth of Inuyasha's body a little bit more.

Inuyasha chuckled softly. "That episode is over…it was over two episodes ago" he said softly bending over her ear.

Kagome still had her eyes closed as she spoke, "Really…that's too bad…it's my favorite" she said softly.

"You told me" he whispered in her ear.

"Well it is" she mumbled back wrinkling her forehead.

Inuyasha chuckled again still stroking her hair and turning back to watch the television. Flipping the channel a few times to see if there was anything else on he came upon the history channel which was doing a special on feudal Japan. "Hey, Kagome, check this out." he said quietly slightly mesmerized at the screen. "Kagome" he said again turning back to her and biting his tongue immediately. She lay there curled up close to him, sound asleep, barely moving except for the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest. No sound came from her except the exhalation of breath. He took a moment to watch her as she slept, realizing this was the second time he had watched her sleep and noting how utterly breathtaking she looked. Even here with the glow of light from the TV casting shadows on her face, making her porcelain skin glow, she looked...beautiful. And as before, even if he had not known what the feeling was then, he felt the strong urge to protect her and keep her from harm. Honestly, it petrified him, terrified him and made a shiver run down his spine.

He could hardly believe it as his hand stilled on her head, afraid to move for absolute fear that he would wake her. He didn't know how to describe it. It was as if the light she was bathed in was emanating from her. He shook these thoughts from his head, it was best not to go there, let things remain the way they were, the status quo. Still, he could not help wondering to himself what it would be like. He didn't allow the thought to continue, banishing it from his mind. Quietly, he turned off the TV, placing the remote quietly on the coffee table. Then standing slowly he bent over her sleeping form, noting lightly that she smelled of lavender, picked her up ever so gently. He marveled at how light she was. True she was tiny, but she felt like she couldn't weigh more than twenty pounds. She moved slightly, but did not wake, as Inuyasha stood with bated breath. She snuggled deeper into his chest, mumbling incoherent nothings, attracted to his warmth. Slowly and carefully, he moved to the staircase, up it, and into the darkened hallway. Seeing in the dark was no problem for him, but he wanted to make sure he didn't revive her from her slumber. He entered her bedroom, gently opening the door with his foot and silently crept inside. He looked around the room, as his eyes adjusted to the lack of light, never having been inside the room before he noted its contents. The large bed, and closet, very tidy and neat, the bureau and drawers, a vanity with various pictures of her and her family when she was younger, graduation pictures from high school and college. He smiled inwardly at this, never really having thought about Kagome been in high school and college, growing up with a younger brother and a family.

Moving to the bed he gently, as if she were made of glass, placed her delicately on the bed, afraid to breathe. He stood back for a moment to watch her sleep for a moment, debating whether he should try to get her into a nightgown or pajamas or something, but thought better of it. If she woke up, he'd have a hell of a time explaining it. Her arms had fallen up above her head, her head tilted to one side. One of her legs was tucked up underneath the other, and the skirt she was wearing had been hitched up in the process, revealing her creamy thighs. Inuyasha swallowed hard, trying to tear his gaze away from her leg, and succeeding only to be met with the slightest hint of her cleavage from a button that had come undone somewhere along the way. He silently cursed, but was still struck with how absolutely incredible she looked, bathed in the dim Manhattan light. His eyes moved next to her face, soft delicate features, a cute nose, long lashes, and soft pink lips. Unconsciously he had moved closer to her, his mind wondering, what she and those soft lips tasted like. Strawberries, he imagined. It was as if he weren't in control of his body as he ever so slowly bent down over her, entranced by this strange beauty. Every iota in him screamed at him to stop, but he couldn't. He stopped inches from her face, feeling her warm breath on his face. He closed his eyes, trying to will himself away from this. Instead, he did the best he could, he compromised, giving in slightly to what he wanted there and laid the lightest of kisses on her forehead, his lips barely brushing the skin for just a moment. He didn't know how long he stayed that way, breathing in her scent, eyes closed, lost in the small contact between them.

Perhaps it was that Inuyasha had kissed her harder than he thought. Perhaps it was the fact Kagome was a light sleeper. Perhaps it was the almost electric spark Inuyasha felt when he kissed her. Perhaps it was more of the cosmic timing he'd mentioned earlier. Whatever the reason was, Kagome stirred and her eyes fluttered open just as Inuyasha was breaking the contact between them leaving Inuyasha staring directly into Kagome's eyes. Neither spoke, even as Kagome became aware of where she was, the position she was in and more. They just stared at each other, neither moving, both too afraid to say anything. And in that moment something flashed between the two of them, held in their eyes for the briefest of moments, but caught by both of them. Something had just interrupted the status quo and now things would never be the same.

To Be Continued...

Am I evil? I don't think so. Not completely anyway. Let me know what you think as always, read and review always a wonderful thing. I tried to give you guys an extra long chapter this time around as I know I haven't updated in awhile. I'll try to get another one up as soon as I can. I make no promises, but I will try try try my best. So until next time, love you all.

StarvingAristinNY

More Words of Wisdom from Yours Truly:

"If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?"

--Unknown


	9. Ch 9: Aftermath

I updated soon...it only took me like two weeks I think. Thanks so much for your reviews guys. You make me laugh, I'm sorry for being evil, but I think you're going to perhaps get angrier at me before you love me again, but I promise I'll try to make it as short and painless as possible. And so on we go.

**At Night **

**Chapter IX: Aftermath**

Kagome Higurashi was having a bad day. She sat at her desk, bleary eyed and irritable, nursing her fourth cup of coffee in the past hour and a half. She was staring, rather blankly at her computer screen, trying force concentration upon her task, but was still finding it extremely difficult. To say that she did not sleep well the night before would be the understatement of the century. She was tired and frustrated, wishing that the storm from the night before had knocked power out for the entire city so she could sleep in for the rest of the day. Thankfully, it was almost the end of the week, meaning she could just sleep in on the weekend. And with Thanksgiving coming up, she'd be able to get out of the city and go see her family, getting her away from Inuyasha for a day or two. 'Inuyasha' she thought, grimacing, unconsciously squeezing her right hand hard, and as her eyes narrowed she heard the audible snap of her number two pencil. She silently cursed and threw it into the trash with a sigh of discontent before grabbing another one from her pencil holder. This was entirely the Inu-hanyou's fault. She was so unbelievably frustrated that even if she were awake she doubted she could concentrate. She let out a slow breath in an attempt to release everything she was feeling, but found it of little or no help. She let her head fall into her hands and her hair fall everywhere messily as she remembered the events of the previous night.

_She wasn't sure what woke her up exactly, but it really didn't matter, she supposed. The last thing she remembered was laying down, while repeats of 'I Love Lucy' played on T.V. She was snuggled up close to Inuyasha and his hand had been stroking her hair, making her feel so warm, safe, and protected. She had drifted pleasantly into sleep and then for whatever reason was stirred back into consciousness. Her eyes had fluttered open slowly and in the dark light could only see the dark outline of someone extremely close to her. She felt her breath catch in her throat as she woke up slowly her body and mind still cloudy from the sleep as she became aware of where she was and what was going on. Even before she could see him as her eyes adjusted to the room, she knew it was him. He was frozen above her, and in the dark his golden eyes shone as they looked into hers. She tried to move, but found herself unable to. The best she could manage was a slight squirm and to let out a slow unsteady breath. She absolutely could not tear her eyes away from his eyes, they flickered with some kind of untold emotion and she saw something flash across his eyes. It had been there for just a moment, but it had been there she was sure of it. She managed to swallow nervously her eyes finally able to move from his intense eyes and over his face, his lips, his hair, and back to his eyes again. She wanted him to kiss her…to really kiss her. Silently, slightly afraid, but excited by the prospect she wished over and over, like a mantra in her head, 'kiss me, kiss me, kiss me, kiss me' over and over, again and again, willing it to happen. His face lowered slowly as if answering her call, her face scarlet in the dark in anticipation. "Inuyasha" she breathed out as he closed the distance and placed a kiss on her head quickly._

"_Just putting you to bed…go back to sleep, okay, Kagome" he had said with a smile and exited the room in a flash, leaving Kagome bewildered on the bed. What had just happened? Wasn't he about to… she was so confused. She sat up in the bed, noting finally her skirt and blouse…quickly she slid her skirt back to its proper length and buttoned up the top button of her blouse as well. She was glad it was dark because she could feel the heat coming off her cheeks, her embarrassment was so great. Dangling her legs over the bed, she sat silently, unsure of what to do. He had wanted to kiss her…he was sure of it…absolutely sure of it…she had…wanted him in a way that almost frightened her. And then he had just walked out…maybe she had misread him? It was impossible though, she'd seen it in his eyes. It had been in her eyes as well. She wrung her hands in one another so unsure of what to do. She was confused, embarrassed and unbelievably sexually frustrated much to her own chagrin. The experience had been…whether she wanted to admit it or not, slightly arousing and now here she was…alone. She reluctantly rose from the bed to get ready for bed even though she was sure that sleep at this point was going to be all, but impossible. Slipping into her nightgown she threw her clothes in the hamper. She debated going into the bathroom and throwing some cold water on herself, but didn't want to risk seeing Inuyasha on the way. Instead she slid herself underneath her covers and tried to go to sleep._

_Hours later it was still no use, her mind was still racing, she kept tossing and turning and swore she could hear piano music again. It happened every once in awhile, but she believed it had to be from one of the adjoining apartments. Eventually, exhaustion overtook her and she fell into dreamless sleep, only to be woken a few hours late to her blaring alarm clock._

Raising her head from her hands, Kagome stared blankly at the screen, still angry and upset. She had put herself out there and had been so wanting for him to kiss her and he had shot her down. He obviously didn't have these thoughts about her and she had just practically thrown herself at him. It didn't' matter anyway; she was NOT attracted to him. He had just been nice…and there…that was all, nothing else. She decided that her best course of action was to simply never speak of the event again and pretend as if it had never happened. And with this resolute state of mind she barked into her intercom for Sango to bring her more coffee.

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Inuyasha was having a bad day. He was tired, having tossed and turned all night and it seemed no amount of coffee could wake him up, and let him focus on his work. He was currently situated on the couch, a textbook spread open in his lap as he tried to learn about progressive diseases. He stared at the page of the textbook and realized after a brief moment of confusion that he had just read the exact same paragraph three times. Growling he slammed the book shut on the coffee table and sat back forcefully on the couch arms crossed over his chest. It was entirely Kagome's fault as well. Well, that was not entirely true…it was actually his own fault. He didn't know what had come over him. Well, that was not entirely true either. It may have been his fault for not controlling himself, but he didn't want to blame himself. She had just looked so…indescribable. He couldn't do it though, not because he didn't want to because god knows he had wanted to. He just couldn't do that to her. They were from two separate worlds, she was classy and smart a successful ad executive for a prestigious advertising company. She listened to opera and read books and he, albeit in medical school, was not nearly what she deserved. He didn't want to complicate things in her life. If he attempted to start anything with her, it would ruin the plan they'd set up. And that was something he could not do to her. It would be too selfish of him, and he could not repay her incredible kindness with that. He determined that the best course of action was to simply never speak of the event again and act as if it had never happened

Glancing down at the coffee table he noted that aside from the coffee table was the plastic folder that Kagome had given him the night before; the one that had supposedly everything about Kagome in it. Reaching forward he picked it up and laid it open on his lap began to scan down it. "Name...Kagome Higurashi…DOB…February 2, 1982…" he read aloud, for no reason in particular. He continued to read becoming more engrossed as he read more and more about her life. She had a younger brother, Souta, who was in college both of her parents were alive and had been married for thirty years, lived all her life in Connecticut. He knew that she had gone to college and graduate school, at Syracuse University and then Yale. He flipped the page and smiled, she obviously put a lot of work into this. There were pictures of her as a little girl inside waving to the camera as she sat up on her dad's shoulders, blowing out birthday candles, each picture shown to illustrate highlights of her life or as she put it, 'Influential Moments' in her life. The picture with her dad was her favorite memory. Her dad, had apparently just taken her out for the day, surprising her after school one day and taking her to the zoo, (there was also a picture of Kagome roaring at the tigers), the park, and out to dinner at Friendly's. Inuyasha nodded absently as he read Kagome's description of the pictures. It really was a pretty intimate look at her life, set out before his eyes. He adjusted his position on the couch as he bent a little more closely to the pages to study them a little closer. It was actually, quite a surreal experience, seeing her entire life laid bare to him to read.

Looking down at the coffee table again he looked from his text book which lay askew to the pages of the folder he was holding in his hands. He knew he should be reading, but…this was important too. Plus he was thoroughly engrossed in this. He probably would have to burn the midnight oil, but this was thoroughly engrossing. He briefly contemplated doing something similar for her, but then realized that it was only one that would really have to know these things. She on the other hand could say anything she wanted about him. He shot another look at his textbook before throwing his legs up on the couch. He supposed that his other reading could wait for a few hours…

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"Sango…more coffee" Kagome's unenthusiastic, slightly pathetic voice filtered through the intercom connecting her with Sango. Silence followed without the usual confirmation of her request. Pressing the intercom button again she repeated herself again. "Sango…more coffee" she said a little louder and slower in case her request had been inaudible or something. She waited some more and still nothing. "SANGO…COFFEE" she practically shouted just as Sango entered the room stirring a cup of coffee.

Sango stopped dead in her tracks to give Kagome a roll of her eyes before placing the coffee down on her desk.

"I think I'm going to have to cut you off if you keep getting so irritable, Kagome" Sango said sitting on the edge of her desk.

Kagome took a sip of the warm bitter liquid making a face, but drinking more anyway. She opened one eye to look at Sango still perched on the edge of her desk awaiting a reply. Kagome sighed and put the coffee down. "I'm sorry, Sango it's not you...I'm just tired...really tired...and coffee is what I need right now"

"Oh...one of those nights, eh" Sango said her eyes going wide as she playfully goaded Kagome.

Kagome waved her hand absently and snorted, "Oh...no...It was just...I can't really describe it."

Sango hopped off the desk and sank down to come eye level with Kagome. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked genuinely, sincerity evident in her eyes.

Kagome looked up and sighed again putting her head in her hands. "It's really nothing...but...kind of" Kagome said peaking up at Sango through the cracks in her hands.

Sango hopped into the chair across from Kagome. "I'm all ears...spill. Is it your boy toy? What did he do?" she asked, the look in her eyes clearly showing that she would cause physical harm to someone if need be.

Kagome gesticulated for awhile with her arms trying to come up with the right words and at the same time completely shocked that she was really opening up to Sango. Their relationship, however, had grown over the past months of working with each other so that Kagome thought she could count on Sango as a friend in and out of the office. "Nothing, really. More of something he didn't do. I mean...he cooked me a nice dinner last night" Kagome began tentatively earning an 'aw' from Sango. "And we had a nice night...we sat and watched TV...I fell asleep and I guess he brought me up to bed and then I woke up and" Kagome started to ramble her arms starting to flail as she began to get upset.

"Whoa" was Sango's response as she popped up from the chair and moved behind Kagome and started gently massaging her back. "It's okay, just calm down a little bit." She said to Kagome speaking quietly to her slightly hysterical boss.

Kagome closed her eyes and sighed again. "Thank you, Sango. This is just what I needed right now. Can I hire you to be my massage therapist too?" she joked lightly.

Sango laughed, "I'm expensive".

Kagome laughed too, "I don't doubt it...you're good".

Sango nodded even though Kagome couldn't see. "Now then...it seems to me like you had a nice evening...what exactly didn't he do...unless...you...you two...you two haven't..."Sango trailed off trying to find a less awkward way of saying what she was thinking.

Kagome craned her neck to look up at Sango. "What do you mean...oh...OH" Kagome said going wide eyed and finally realizing what Sango was insinuating. She wasn't entirely sure she felt comfortable talking about this...even if it was a fake relationship in the office in so many ways it was a real relationship too. And while Sango may have been talking sex, to put it frankly, she could just talk about the kissing aspect of things without much fear. "Okay...look Sango...you can't talk to anybody about this you know that, right?" Kagome said gently gripping Sango's shoulders, stopping the massage.

Sango nodded down at Kagome. "I know that, I would never say anything about this that you didn't want me to." she said and clearly meaning every word of it. To emphasize her point she went and gently closed the door to Kagome's office.

Kagome couldn't help, but smile at this. She was sure she could trust her. She really was a good person. She breathed in deeply prepared to take a fairly personal plunge in this. "Well...no...Inuyasha and I haven't ...done...that...but..." Kagome said. "Last night...he...and ...I mean...I...he...well..." she began to stutter with nervous embarrassment, but Sango kept a cool, calm, and collected watch.

"You wanted him to though, right?" Sango asked gently, displaying wisdom that belied her years.

Kagome managed a brief nod. It wasn't the exact truth...totally...she had definitely wanted him to kiss her, but she wasn't sure how much further it would have gone had he done so. Not at all as a matter of fact. She remembered that she had been in a rather vulnerable position with them both on the bed and ...if they'd started kissing... She shook her head to clear her thoughts away from this possibility that left a tingling sensation in her toes. However, that was beside the point. "Yes" she admitted, simply. "Does that make me pathetic?" she asked a slight air of depression in her voice.

Sango shook her head, "No, of course not. But perhaps you had better explain a little bit more…so…he brought you up to bed?" she asked.

Kagome nodded her head, "Yes, I think so anyway. And I woke up and he was there and I was on my bed…and…I thought …but he didn't…" she trailed off lamely, unable to actually articulate the circumstances of last night. They were still too real, too fresh. "Did I do something wrong then?" she asked with the same air of depression.

Sango shook her head 'no' again. "No, he's just a man. Sometimes these things just need to be spelled out for them. It seems to me, from your convoluted description, that he's just respecting your boundaries. I really wouldn't worry about it so much, Kagome." She said leaning into to give her friend/boss a hug and then continued seriously. "It seems like from everything I've heard about him so far…that he's a good guy. It'll happen when it happens. Okay, Kagome?" she said seriously.

Kagome looked at Sango, slightly astonished. "When did you get to be so wise? I'm supposed to be the older and wiser one" she laughed slightly.

Sango smirked happily, "Yeah, by like three years. And just because I'm younger doesn't mean that I don't have good advice. I'm good at this whole advice thing anyway. I'm in college, every two seconds there's a girl in your room crying about this or that…I'm sure you remember."

Kagome gave her a wry smile, "Are you saying I'm a whining college girl?"

Sango gave Kagome a gentle push, "You know I didn't mean that."

Kagome laughed aloud, "I know, I'm just teasing." She stopped and gave Sango a quick hug, "

Thanks for the pep talk, Sango, it really helped. I'll take you out sometime to thank you properly".

"Hey, that's what I'm hear for, secretary/coffee getter/emotional crisis specialist" the younger girl joked.

"Am I interrupting a Kodak moment or what?" a voice intruded in on the office.

Kagome and Sango's head's whipped around to see Miroku leaning against the doorframe.

"What do you want?" Sango asked a hint of nastiness in her voice.

Miroku smiled charmingly and took a step into the office placing a stack of papers down on Kagome's desk. "Merely to drop off these, my dear Sango. And to see your lovely face before asking you to accompany me to lunch."

Sango rolled her eyes, "No, I told you that already. Now go AWAY" Sango all, but growled at him and snapped her head back to Kagome, her hair swishing angrily as her head whipped around. Miroku smiled meekly, yet dejectedly and turned to leave, giving a slight nod as he exited.

Kagome eyed the two back and forth for a moment. "Trouble for you two?" she queried.

Sango watched with a sour expression on her face as Miroku left, and snapped out of it as Kagome spoke to her. "Huh…no" she said looking bewildered for a moment and then smiling. "I like to pretend I'm mad at him every once in awhile. That way he's extremely nice to me for a few days"

Kagome looked scandalized, "That's EVIL".

Sango simply shrugged her shoulders grinning a rather frightening smile as she swung her legs back and forth.

Kagome just shook her head, glad that Sango was her friend and not against her. She could only imagine what horrors her enemies faced.

Sango continued bouncing her foot finally looking at Kagome. "You want to have lunch?" she asked.

"I would love to" was her reply as she nodded affirmatively.

---------------------------------

Kagome arrived home later that night to discover Inuyasha in his usual position, asleep on the couch, one foot up one foot down, his textbook cracked over his chest. She watched him sleeping peacefully and the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest. She gently placed her coat on the hook and continued to watch him some more, much to her realization the way that he must have watched her sleep the night before. She debated whether or not to wake him up in her customary way, or to simply let him sleep. She shook her head as she often did to purge these thoughts. If she wanted things to retain their air of normalcy than she couldn't act any different around him. She had already resolved to act as if nothing had happened and if the status quo was ever to be attained again, she would have to make the first step.

Chewing on her lip she tried to think of a creative way to wake him up. She had thrown things at him, shouted at him a few times, thrown water on him on one occasion in which hilarity did not ensue. She smiled to herself as she came up with an idea, and striding over to her stereo system turned it on, glancing back anxiously at Inuyasha and hoping that the noise from the system awakening wouldn't wake him up. She had had a few circumstances earlier on where his sensitive ears had been set off by her early attempts to catch him by surprise. Thankfully, his eyes remained closed, and his breathing the same. Cuing up the song to the exact moment she wanted, she slowly cranked the volume to the speakers, preparing for what she hoped was going to be a sublimely hysterical reaction. He looked extremely content as he was sleeping, his nose twitching every once and again.

Kagome smiled wickedly as she pressed the play button on the stereo and the final strains of the 1812 overture rang from the speaker system and into the sensitive ears of the sleeping half demon. The reaction was instantaneous, Inuyasha sat bolt upright as if he'd been electrocuted on the couch, the expression on his face one of utter horror, confusion, and panic on his face. After staring around wildly his eyes finally landed on Kagome who was standing smugly by the stereo system, arms crossed as she grinned cheekily at him. Inuyasha's eyes narrowed as he held his ears with his hands in an attempt to drown out the sound.

"TURN IT OFF" he said trying to talk above the volume of the music.

Kagome gave him an innocently confused look, daintily placing a hand to her ear and mouthing, 'What? I can't hear you?' to him.

Inuyasha glared at her, flopping back down onto the couch his hands still on his ears. Removing one of his hands his face scrunched up as he somehow kept the ear that had come uncovered folded down and he grabbed a pen that was lying idly on the coffee table. Two seconds later it sailed across the room, and struck the stop button on the stereo system, effectively shutting the sound down.

"Hey" Kagome said turning to look at the stereo system and to pick up the pen that was lying on the floor. She smiled the same devious smile as she tossed the pen back at Inuyasha, and watching it bounce off his knee and back to the floor. "I was listening to that" she giggled leaning back again and wiggling her eyebrows.

Inuyasha's response was to yawn and stretch out on the couch, hooking his arm around the back of the couch. "Why do you insist on doing that to me?" he asked, a bemused expression on his face.

Kagome smirked and laughed, "Because you insist upon falling asleep on my couch".

Inuyasha leaned back and closed his eyes again. "Touché" he said and the two lapsed into silence for a little while. Opening his eyes he looked up at Kagome and the two just looked at each other. The silence became uncomfortable as Kagome laughed every once in awhile.

Neither knew what to say. 'Shit', Kagome thought, 'This isn't how I wanted things to go…say something…anything…it doesn't matter….'. She desperately tried to think of something to break the intolerable silence. However, it was Inuyasha who broke the silence.

"I never knew your favorite color was green…I always figured you as a blue kind of person" he commented.

Kagome tilted her head, confused. "Wait…what? First of all, how did you know, and second, why do I seem like a blue person?" she asked.

Inuyasha smiled, "I read it in the report thing you gave me" he replied, pointing to it on the coffee table.

Kagome's eyes followed Inuyasha's hand and finger, and true to his word, the file she'd made was there, laying next to a copy of TV Guide. 'Huh" was her initial reply.

"And I thought you'd be a blue person simply because I think you look nice when you wear the color blue" he stated quietly, almost contemplatively.

Kagome was not sure what to say as she shifted her weight uncomfortably, but this conversation had just entered a place she did not want to go. She desperately wanted to steer the conversation away from this, but at the same time she found herself intrigued too. 'Damn these conflicting emotions' she thought to herself briefly, but found herself saying out loud. "What else did you find out?"

Inuyasha swung his feet down off the couch and touched them to the floor. He looked like he was going to get up for a moment as his arms tensed, but then suddenly eased again as he remained sitting. "Well…I see how much you love your Dad. It's all throughout this thing of yours. You know that almost every significant event in your life that you pointed out, involved your father in some way. Not to say that you love your Mom any less, but I always figured you for a Daddy's girl." He commented.

Inuyasha was incredibly insightful Kagome realized. Instead of simply listing another fact that he'd memorized, he'd made an insinuation based on what was there. Now that was scary. It was a strange enough experience having him, apparently now know so much about her, when she knew very little about him in the grand scheme of things, at least in terms of something as intimate as he had revealed of her. She was really starting to feel uncomfortable. She needed an exit to change the subject, without it seeming too abrupt, but thankfully he had provided it.

"Yes, that's me" she admitted nodding her head and giving him a smile. "Speaking of family though, I did tell you that I'm going home for Thanksgiving, right?"

Inuyasha's ears perked slightly, "Oh" was his response, a surprised expression on his face. "No…I didn't, but that's fine, I have some things to do on Thanksgiving anyway."

Kagome immediately felt as if she had done something wrong, but was unsure of what exactly. "Football?" she asked him, grinning at him in a 'boys will be boys' manner.

Inuyasha smiled, although it didn't reach his eyes. "Of course…can't have Thanksgiving without football" he added.

Kagome decided to probe further. Something was still amiss and she wanted to find out what exactly it was. She would have to be as nonchalant as she could, because knowing Inuyasha it wouldn't be long before he picked up on what she was doing. "Anything else?" she asked.

"Hm…what? Well…yeah, some other things too. Nothing to bore you with though." He said, trying to be casual and waving his hand as if to disperse the air around the conversation. She had definitely touched on something, but how to proceed.

"No, I'm actually curious. I don't want you to be bored to death here." Kagome skillfully countered.

"Really, it's nothing. Nothing at all, I've just got somewhere I need to go for a few hours, but it's no big deal. I don't want to talk about it" Inuyasha said, waving his hand some more and becoming more and more visibly uncomfortable and agitated.

Kagome knew she was treading on dangerous ground, but she needed to know. Inuyasha was never so cryptic and that scared her. She would get this out of him, no matter what the reaction was. She smiled again, tilting her head to the side in a teasing manner. "Oh come on, tell me. I want to know. Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me" she began to chant over and over again, Inuyasha interrupting every few seconds to tell her to stop.

Inuyasha kept waving his more and more vigorously. "Kagome…stop it…stop it…Kagome…" he tried in an attempt to get her to leave the subject. Finally, he couldn't take it any longer. "KAGOME KNOCK IT OFF" he shouted angrily at her standing on the couch, his eyes ablaze.

Kagome gave a slight yelp of surprise and stared at him wide eyed. She had not anticipated a recreation like that.

Inuyasha immediately regretted his actions. He hadn't meant to scare her. She had just touched a nerve. He breathed slowly and deeply a few times, his eyes cast down to the floor. "I'm sorry, Kagome" he said after a few seconds. "As you can see…it's kind of a sore subject".

Kagome said nothing, it didn't seem right. She'd done enough talking so she would simply wait for him to continue should he choose.

Inuyasha sensed this and felt he did owe her an explanation of his momentary outburst. "I visit my father's grave on Thanksgiving because it's the anniversary of his death." He paused to look up at her. "My father died on Thanksgiving five years ago."

Kagome let out a slight gasp and put a hand up to her mouth. She would have never guessed. An overwhelming sense of guilt hit her as realization dawned on her. She felt so selfish. Memories of how she had been looking forward to Thanksgiving to get away from Inuyasha. Thanksgiving was a time for family and Inuyasha had no one. She had never felt so small or so ashamed. With resolve she stepped forward. "Wait here" she told him and disappeared upstairs for about twenty minutes. When she came back downstairs she announced to him that she would be staying there for the holiday. He had initially protested, but she had silenced him with a hand over his lips. She had then wrapped her arms around him and held on tightly, whispering apologies to him over and over about how ignorant and selfish she had been. There had been no more protests. On Thanksgiving Day, the two visited the grave together and she had held his hand tightly for support. The weather had turned slightly warmer, but the weather was rainy and dull. He stood and talked to the grave site of his father, even introducing her as his fake girlfriend and explaining in slightly hushed tones about her and what had happened, announcing that he was back in med school and doing well. He had left flowers on the grave and the two had departed back to Kagome's apartment to eat their own Thanksgiving dinner and watch traditional thanksgiving football with one another, Inuyasha and Kagome rooting for separate teams to add to their enjoyment of the game. As Kagome watched both the game and Inuyasha out of the corner of her eye she knew that not falling for him was going to be far harder than she thought.

To be continued…

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So there we go…a tad shorter than the last one, but originally the last part of the last chapter was going to be the first part of this one. However, I do hope you enjoy the fact that this update came quickly. I hustled my butt off to write this because actually I'm rather excited about writing the next two chapters that I have planned in my head. I hope this doesn't mean that this chapter has suffered. Ack, enough of my ramblings. Once again, thanks for all my wonderful reviewers and please do the same with this chapter. I love them and they make me feel good on the inside. Next chapter coming up as soon as I can get it written and done with. So until next time…

StarvingArtistinNY

My famous words of wisdom:

"Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity"


	10. Ch 10 When Things Don't Go As Planned

Yes, I am continuing this story. Sorry, this took so long. I developed a major case of writer's block about two pages in and just couldn't figure out how I wanted to work this out, plus with the Book 7 of a certain series coming out, I needed to take time out and read it. I did so and proceeded to feel inspired and finish this chapter up. I also was going to wait and make this chapter a bit of a double chapter, but being busy at school does not even begin to cover things. So instead, I figured I would give you guys the first half of the chapter to tide you over until I can get the next sections out. I feel like I want to take some time out here and just once again seriously thank everyone for the overwhelmingly positive response I have gotten from this story. I honestly can't thank you guys enough and words really cannot describe how happy it has made me to read your reviews. I will do my best to keep writing you quality chapters. Speaking of that, I guess my last little bit of the last chapter was a little hit or miss. Sorry about that for those of you who didn't like it. I thought long and hard about actually writing a sequence at the grave site, but it just didn't seem to fit into the chapter. I was trying to write some kind of tableau at the end that I thought was kind of nice, but that's fine. Anyway, thank you for the constructive criticism. And now, on with the show.

**At Night**

**Chapter X: When Things don't go as Planned...**

Inuyasha strolled down the streets of New York, weaving his way through the hundreds of pedestrians out on the street. It seemed like your typical December day in the big apple, but it definitely wasn't. The weather had effectively turned colder, making him unconsciously pull his winter jacket tighter around himself as he dodged a slow moving businessman on a cell phone. The sounds of the holiday season were all around him in billboards, store windows, carols being pumped out into the streets. Decorations for every upcoming winter holiday, Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, and even the Winter Solstice were everywhere. As usual the Salvation Army was out collecting money for the homeless, ringing its bells on street corners and passing out candy canes. Yup, the holiday season was in full swing.

Inuyasha had actually, despite the fact he couldn't stop chuckling dryly, donated some money to help feed the homeless. He couldn't help thinking to himself where that money went when he had been homeless. Nonetheless, he donated anyway, chuckling to himself and side stepping some people to continue on his way. The streets were much busier than usual as was the norm of the holidays in New York. Tourists were flocking to ice skate on Rockefeller plaza or to see the giant Christmas tree. Others were simply shopping at Macy's, Sacks, or the dozens of other famous stores around Manhattan. Normally, this would have aggravated the half demon with people crowding the streets of the already overcrowded city, but something about the season, and his focused state made him pay it no mind. He was a man on a mission.

Things had been going well over the past few weeks. Actually, more than well. Great was a word used far too often and it didn't quite describe all that accurately the current state of his life. Marvelous would perhaps be the word to describe how things had been. Granted there had been ups and downs. Kouga had been particularly malicious ever since Inuyasha had knocked him out. The memory still brought a smug smile to Inuyasha's face. He had looked for every excuse possible to target Inuyasha during in class lectures and practical studies. Inuyasha had risen to the challenge, however, answering every one of his questions to perfection, performing each procedure above expectations, studying harder, fueled by the rivalry that had risen to new heights.

Then there were things with Kagome. Things had been going well…extremely well. The awkwardness had all, but disappeared since that evening where he had put her to bed. And what had changed it, was Thanksgiving Day, when she had come with him to his father's grave. He originally was going to go alone, but she had insisted that she come along, in that stubborn and yet incredible way of hers. She wanted to be there for him and to support him. And although he would never say it, he appreciated it more than he could rightly find words to say. He had been there staring down at the words carved in stone at his father's final resting place. No matter how many times he went there, how many times he'd stared at the cold gray stone, he would never be used to it. And she had given him his space until initially, letting him speak to his father, until on the verge of breaking down, he'd felt someone take his hand. Turning his head to look, he saw her smiling gently and encouragingly as she gave his hand a brief squeeze. She had become very special to him and their relationship seemed to reflect it. They had spent much of the past few weeks spending a great deal of time with one another swapping stories about their respective childhoods, friends, college life, etc. Kagome had justified it by saying that she didn't like the idea of him knowing her so well without her knowing some things about him as well. They were fast becoming very good friends and Inuyasha found it high time he showed his appreciation for everything the weird and wonderful young woman had done for him.

After convincing Kaede to give him more hours and let him try the front desk again, which after some mental perseverance he'd been able to excel at. It hadn't been the fact that he'd wanted to scare anyone away from the school, far from it. He loved being there and taking class and doing what he was doing, it was just answering the same questions forty times a day often had a way of wearing at ones nerves. Nevertheless, he'd done it, and now with money in his pocket headed into a small shop, with the name 'Lannigan's' written in scrawling gold leaf on a dark green sign above the doorway. As he pushed the door open a bell chimed his entrance into the store. Even after living in New York for so long he still didn't have an idea of where to buy something that Kagome would like. Sure, he'd had his share of girlfriends, but certainly not recently. And Kagome wasn't a girl, she was a woman and so he had to make sure he got something suitable. He owed her that much at the very least.

Glancing around the store he immediately realized he was in a bit over his head. He'd never bought anything quite like this for someone before. He'd never bought jewelry before. Well, not to this extent where the merchandise sat in glass display cases and you had to ask to see something. He cleared his throat, determined to do his best in this situation as he could. He slowly sauntered through the store glancing at the glass cases trying to find something nice to give her. It did seem a little cliché and the easy way out buying her a necklace, bracelet, ring, or whatever else. As long as he didn't get the first thing that he saw it would be fine, which in itself was a challenge for Inuyasha. Patience was not his strongest quality. He only went shopping when he knew exactly what he was getting, in typical male fashion. He tried his best to look like he knew what he was doing or looking for, but had the feeling he wasn't fairing too well. How was he supposed to know what a nice piece of jewelry was? He supposed it had to do with price, but he figured with the money he'd managed to save over the past few months that he'd be able to buy her something, not necessarily all that high end, but nice enough.

He looked down in a case with some rings in it some, simple bands, others lavishly and intricately designed interwoven bands of silver and gold, with diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, and other precious gemstones tastefully decorating the surface. The more he looked, the more he realized just how completely clueless he was. He looked down at one with rubies set in white gold and stared at it hard. Was that something Kagome would like? He had no idea in actuality. This was proving to be more difficult than he had initially envisioned.

"You look completely lost" a voice from behind him said.

Turning towards the sound, Inuyasha noticed an older man, gray haired and slightly wrinkled, with large smiling eyes. "Huh?" was Inuyasha's intelligent response.

"First time buying jewelry, eh?" the old man asked an amused smile on his aged features.

"That obvious, huh?" Inuyasha managed, giving the man a weak grin. Normally, he tried to avoid talking with people he didn't know in public, but being rather lost in this environment, he was glad for the old man's initiative to help him out.

"Don't worry, you'll figure it out eventually. I think I've gotten the hang of it after a lot of practice and patience. Let me help you out. It's the benefits of being old, I suppose, because I don't think arthritis and incontinence would be considered benefits" the older man said matterofactly.

Inuyasha didn't know whether to laugh or simply stare at the man after the statement he'd just be made. He chose the former, a burst of laughter coming forth as he shook his head and smiled amusedly at the old man's comment. He had Inuyasha's sense of humor in a way. "Thank you" he said nodding his head politely. "I was going to feel silly asking for help from anyone who worked here. I figured that they would just be trying to make me buy the most expensive thing here" he said.

"Yeah, they'll do that. Now then…tell me about her" he the old man said inclining his body towards the younger man.

"How did you know it's for a girl?" Inuyasha queried.

The old man laughed a kind of horse like, wheezing laugh. "It's always about a girl. Cities have been raised, countries destroyed, and strong men brought to their knees over such things as women. And in modern times, this is the equivalent. We don't destroy cities…just our bank accounts".

Inuyasha nodded in response still chuckling quietly. This guy was either a genius or completely and utterly nuts. "I suppose" was all he could manage to reply with.

The old man quietly indicated that Inuyasha should follow him. "So tell me about your young lady friend" he said sidling up to a counter.

"Well…uh" Inuyasha thought for a moment. He wasn't sure how comfortable he was talking about Kagome to this man. He had trouble talking about her with people he did know, let alone a stranger.

As if sensing his discomfort, the old man spoke again. "Nothing too personal, son, nothing to personal…what's she like say…looks wise for starters."

Inuyasha breathed out, deeply in relief. That changed things. That he could do. "Well" he began clearing his throat. "She's…about 5'5…black hair…brown eyes…um…slim…athletic…" Inuyasha thought describing her physical attributes, having to bite his tongue as he thought about the time he'd teased her about knowing her bust size and being quizzed on that.

The old man nodded his head in affirmation as the young man ticked off her physical attributes. "Okay, that's good…good, very good. Well, that means you can rule out some of these type items right here." He said indicating a few of the larger pieces. She's on the small side so something like that would look kind of ridiculous on her. That doesn't mean count out larger bits, just be wary of them. Price range, young sir, if you don't mind me asking of course" he said inclining his head again.

"Oh…not at all…two -fifty is all I have, but I figured I could get her something decent with that." Inuyasha said a little embarrassed because this man was dressed nicely and he felt slightly self-conscious at only spending that much, but it was the best he could do.

To his surprise though, the old man smiled and nodded his head again. "Fine, fine, that should be just fine." He scrutinized the various items in the glass display case again signaling to Inuyasha which ones were also not on option. Turning back to Inuyasha with a curious faced he asked again. "If you could describe her as a person in a few words, how would you?" he asked.

"Twenty questions, eh?" Inuyasha commented while thinking carefully about his question before answering. "I guess…I'd have to say …elegant…I mean…not in a snooty sense or anything…she's quite the opposite, really…if anything…selfless…incredibly selfless…and…graceful…" Inuyasha trailed off still in thought.

The old man had been watching as Inuyasha described this girl to him and couldn't help, but smile. He could tell that this attraction was still new, in its fledgling stages, perhaps unspoken even, but also that the depth to which this young man cared for the young lady in question. "I think that would be what you're looking for, young man." He said pointing to a silver bracelet with red rubies studding it, tastefully. It glittered prettily in the artificial light.

Glancing down at it, Inuyasha nodded appreciatively. It was really quite stunning, but he shook his head, tapping the glass with a long finger. "No…that's what I'm looking for" he said pointing to another bracelet about six inches to the right of the ruby adorned one. Following the finger, the older man saw Inuyasha pointing to another bracelet, this one made of green jade, simple, elegant, graceful…almost everything that Inuyasha had described the young woman as. It shimmered slightly in the light, different as night and day from the ruby one.

"See, you're learning already. You have excellent taste young man" he said leaning down to get a better look at it.

Inuyasha turned to look at the man who had helped and smiled thankfully. "I would have been lost without you. Thanks" he said giving him a nod of appreciation. He knew for some reason without a doubt in his mind that Kagome would like it.

"Oh it was no trouble at all. It was there in you, you just needed someone to pluck it out." The older man said smiling.

"Thanks anyway Mr…" Inuyasha asked putting his hand out for the man to shake.

"Totosai" was the man's response shaking the young man's hand. "Call me Totosai".

Inuyasha smiled and returned the firm handshake. "Inuyasha…Inuyasha Takashiro" he returned.

Totosai looked at Inuyasha curiously for a moment, swearing that he'd heard that name before realization dawned on him. He smiled as he leaned in closer. "I think Kagome will love it" he said reading the shock on Inuyasha's face.

----------------------------------------------

"So do we get to meet your mystery doctor soon?"

"What?" Kagome asked, looking up from her computer screen into the expectant face of secretary.

"Do we get to meet your mystery doctor soon?" Sango repeated the question.

"Huh…what…well…yes…yeah" Kagome said looking back at her computer screen continuing to type away.

Sango did not say anything as she sat on the edge of Kagome's desk, as she frequently did, her expression blank as she swung her legs back and forth. Reaching over quickly she pressed the power button on Kagome's monitor, shutting it off.

"Hey" Kagome said turning to Sango agitation written clearly on her face. "What did you do that for?"

"Because you owe me more than that…come on Kagome….I'm dying for details here." Sango pouted leaning back on across the desk to further prevent Kagome from working. "I mean, he's never come around here to visit, we've never even seen what he looks like and you guys have been dating for what…a couple months now? I need more, please, Kagome, pleeeeassssseeee" the younger girl whined.

Kagome still agitated gave her a cool look. "Don't you have work to do?" she asked.

As if on cue the phone rang and without missing beat Sango reached over and picked up the phone. "Kagome Higurashi's office, this is Sango speaking, how may I help you?" she chirped brightly into the phone. She listened to the caller speak she spoke again. "I'm sorry, she's unavailable at the moment, may I take a message…okay…alright then…buh bye". Quickly she hung up the phone giving Kagome one of her infamous, 'come on' looks. "Meeting at 2 in the small conference room. All right, I worked, now spill!" she demanded.

Kagome shook her head in disbelief. Sometimes, her young secretary really did amaze her. She knew that if Sango weren't so good at her job that she should be angry. After all, she wasn't just Sango's friend, she was her boss too. She couldn't help it though. Sometimes the girl just made her laugh and she found it extremely difficult to remain angry with her. She was actually very grateful to Sango. Kagome had very few friends, and although their relationship had started in a professional capacity, now the girl was among the few she could actually call her friends. Kagome could actually count her friends on one hand despite being in New York for almost a year. The truth of it was that the city, despite playing home to its multiple million residents, made it extremely difficult to meet anyone. Hell, the only reason she'd met one of her friends was because some guys had attempted to mug her. However, the Kagome's complete lack of social life was not anything new. In her line of work you had almost had to pick either your career or your life and when you excelled in one, you suffered in the other.

Looking into the face of her expectant secretary, Kagome wasn't sure exactly what else to say. For some reason, completely unbeknownst to her, she felt very self-conscious when speaking about Inuyasha. Almost as if she felt she didn't have the right to divulge anything about him. He was such a private person, and the only times he really opened up to her were during huge emotional outbursts. "What do you want to know…I mean he's a very private person so there's not much to tell" Kagome said, mimicking her inner dialogue.

"It's not like I want to hear his innermost secrets, I just want to hear something other than…he's a doctor…he's cute…I mean other than your lack of sex life, I know virtually nothing about this guy. Give me something…I live and feed on gossip. Please, Kagome for my sanity as well as yours, help me out here." Sango demanded melodramatically.

Fighting back the rise of color to her face Kagome sighed. "Well, you're going to meet him in two days, so does it really matter? Then you can make your own judgments about him" Kagome said hoping that might satiate the younger girl for a time.

Sango finally jumped off the desk to come behind Kagome's chair giving it a little shake. "Oh no, I need more than that. I need more of your opinion on him so I can see just how hard you've fallen. And that way if he turns out to be bad news, I can be the one to knock some sense into you" Sango answered tossing her hair slightly and sticking her nose up.

Kagome gave her younger friend a look of disbelief. "You already said you liked him when I told you about the dinner he made me…he's a good guy, he really is. He's just private…he's had a lot of hardship and just the fact that he's able to open up to me is a miracle in itself. I am constantly amazed at how he stays in good humor with everything that's happened to him. It makes sense that's he's wary of getting attached to people and it makes me feel…I don't know…special I guess that he lets me in, even a little bit, and even though those times are difficult for him. And selfless...so selfless...I mean...my god...you have no idea and truthfully I wish I could tell you. He's...he's the strongest person I know..." Kagome monologued finding herself smiling brightly without realizing.

Sango stared at her for a few moments as she smiled, practically glowing before saying anything. "Wow...you've got it bad...real bad...but in a good way." Sango said giving Kagome a quick hug and exiting her office, it being obvious that her boss needed some space.

Kagome tried to recover from this rather shocking revelation, but found herself unable to pick her jaw up off the floor. This wasn't good, Kagome realized. She banged her head down on her keyboard a few times, in a vain attempt to knock some sense into her. Her dilemma was getting worse and not better. She had come to terms with her obvious attraction to Inuyasha, but instead of holding it to the physical attraction she was convinced it was, it seemed that she was beginning to move beyond it. This whole thing was a double edged sword. On one hand, she was being very convincing to Sango and vicariously the rest of the office staff that had been hitting her up for details about her cute young doctor, but on the other hand it was becoming a real problem for her personal life. What was going to happen when they were supposed to part ways? Would she want to? The thought horrified Kagome and she quickly shook it from her consciousness, but knew that like all things that it was sure to come back to hit her in the butt, like some kind of malevolent boomerang of reality. She repeated in her head that she was only doing a good job of acting the part over and over like a mantra. Why couldn't her life be simple? For the first time in awhile since she'd first conceived this plan, she began to have doubts about its outcome. Some sixth unspoken sense told her that she wasn't going to get out of this one without her or those close to her getting hurt.

----------------------------------------------

Stationed once again at her desk, outside of Kagome's office, Sango gave a backward glance at where she had left her boss moments ago. She appeared to be deep in thought about something or other, and Sango had learned over the months they had worked together that when Kagome got that 'thinking hard' look on her face, it was best to let her do just that. Observing her for another quick moment, Sango noted that she had started pacing and furiously twirling a strand of her long black hair in her hand. This of course meant one of several things. Sango had seen this several times before, usually when her brilliant boss was on the verge of some discovery, revelation, or other, usually work related, but as they were just talking about her relationship Sango figured it had to be about that. She shook her head slightly in a slightly wistful and amused way. 'She really had no idea', Sango mused in her head. It was amazing that this girl, whom Sango admired greatly, could be so unaware of her own feelings and naïve in the ways of relationships. Granted, Sango, herself was no expert, but it made her feel proud to be able to impart something to the older girl. Still thinking on her boss's most recent revelation, Sango began to idly type out some letters that Kagome had given her earlier relieved that she could simply do that without having to break her current train of thought.

"Sango, my dear" Miroku's voice brought Sango out of her train of thought.

'Damn' she mentally cursed.

Sango placed an annoyed expression on her face. "What do you want?" she asked with just a hint of nastiness in her voice.

Miroku plopped down in the chair in front of Sango's desk giving her a charming smile. "I thought we'd moved past all of that.

"Hardly" Sango scoffed, shooting him a glare and pretending to concentrate extensively on her typing. Miroku said nothing in response, only regarding her silently as she continued to ignore him. Finally getting annoyed at his inactivity Sango snapped at him again. "Don't you have anything better to do?" she demanded.

"What do you mean?" Miroku asked innocently, and wiggling his eyebrows at her impishly.

Sango stopped typing to shoot him an angry glare. "Better than sitting there being annoying and staring at me while I work" she said haughtily and turned once again back to her computer screen, taking out her frustrations on the keyboard.

Miroku smiled jovially and brought a leg up to rest on his opposite knee. "Oh, I can think of several better things to be doing than simply watching you work, but for now this seems just fine.

"Why are you so irritating?" she retorted.

"Why are you so obstinate?" he shot back.

This made Sango pause for a moment. "What?" she asked angrily.

"Obstinate…it means…" Miroku started.

"I know what it means" she interrupted. "Obstinate about what?" she asked, her eyes flashing from pure frustration.

"Us" Miroku stated locking eyes with her and refusing to back down.

Sango practically fell out of her chair in surprise. "Us? What us? Whoa there buddy! There is no us of which you speak buster so don't _insinuate _that there is an us. There is not now, nor will there ever _be _an us. So stop even thinking about it!" she said speaking in a loud whisper, glancing around nervously praying that no one had heard this. She did not want to be the subject of office gossip.

"Not yet, perhaps. There will be though. I'm going to take you to the charity drive." He said standing up and leaving to go back to the desk.

Sango shook her head, highly confused. "What…hey…hey…says who?" she demanded as she stood, hands on her hips.

Moving quickly to her side to he gently placed a finger to her lips to halt her protests and inadvertently make her hold her breath. "I'll pick you up at six. I'll need your address, so just shoot me an email a little later" he said starting to walk away.

"Hey," Sango shouted after him. "I never said 'yes' you know."

"You didn't say, 'no', either" Miroku called back as his form retreated back to his desk.

Sango opened her mouth to retort, but found herself with nothing to say as Miroku was infuriatingly right. She sat down dumbly and stared at her computer screen blankly for a few seconds. Her eyes danced down to the email icon in the lower left hand corner of her screen. Quickly, she tore her eyes away from it keeping her eyes glued to the letter she was supposed to be typing and went back to work.

"Excuse me" a voice took Sango away from her work again. Sango sighed and glanced up. She was met with the warm weathered face of Totosai, looking down at her, and a young man standing beside him, who was shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other and glancing around, looking extremely nervous and out of place. He was well dressed and handsome, with long silver white hair and golden eyes. In one hand he was holding some flowers which he seemed to be clenching rather tightly, perhaps a little too hard for the good of the flowers. "Is Kagome in?" Totosai continued, taking Sango's gaze away from the young man at his side.

Sango blinked and was silent before speaking. "Oh…um…yes, she is…" Sango began, but was cut off as Totosai nodded and brushed past her to Kagome's door.

"Thank you…come on inside, Inuyasha." Totosai said, indicating the man behind him should follow, which he did albeit reluctantly.

Sango's eyes went wide with realization as the young man followed the senior VP into Kagome's office. It was the mystery doctor…in the office…visiting Kagome...with Totosai…but visiting nonetheless. This was big news…very big news. Fast as lightning she opened up her email and marked it 'highest priority' and sent out a message to everyone she could think of saying,

'_Mystery Doctor is visiting Kagome. He is cute. Details to follow! Anyone who wants to come quick!'_

Shortly thereafter she received a note back from Miroku which read, '_Interesting, but you forgot to tell me your address'. _

Further frustrated Sango typed back a message to her irritating co-worker. '_Stop being an ass and get over here and maybe, MAYBE I'll let you have it, okay?' _

She did not receive a response, but within thirty seconds Miroku was at her desk. Before he could say anything Sango shushed him. "Shhh, no talking. Look like you're helping me so we can eavesdrop properly okay?" she demanded poking him in the chest with a pencil.

Miroku nodded and stood close behind her pretending to be showing her something on the computer as the two strained to listen to the conversation going on in Kagome's office. Miroku smiled secretly as he noticed the redness rising in Sango's cheeks as he hovered over her.

------------------------------

Still pacing in her office, Kagome did not even hear Totosai enter her office until he spoke up. "Ah, Kagome, I hope I'm not disturbing you." He said, bright eyed and smiling.

Kagome looked up at him, snapping out of her line of thought. "Oh…no sir," she said retreating to her desk and picking up a stack of papers and picking them up held them out for Totosai to take. "I just finished the cost analysis for the INUYASHA!" she began before shouting the last part and dropping the stack of papers on the floor looking wide eyed and terrified, very reminiscent of the first time they'd met. Recovering quickly, Kagome bent down to pick up the papers that had scattered across her office floor. "I mean…Inuyasha…how nice of you to surprise me at work this way…honey." She said putting on a smile and speaking to a point in between Totosai and Inuyasha on the wall.

Totosai bent down to help pick up the stack of papers that she'd dropped. Bending his head back to look at Inuyasha who still stood stock still near the door he laughed. "See, I told you it would be a nice surprise. Did you see her face…total surprise." He turned back to speak to Kagome and said, "Thank you, Kagome, very prompt. Now, I'll leave you two kids alone…behave though, remember, you're on company time Kagome". The last part of his sentence simply dripped with suggestive undertones as he promptly stood and exited without as much as a backward glance.

Kagome instantly sprang up from the floor and closed the door, but not before giving a half shocked, half disdainful look at the small crowd gathered at Sango's desk, trying to look busy, but obviously eavesdropping. And then whirling around to face Inuyasha she spoke. "What are you _doing_ here?" she asked in a heated whisper, her expression one of pure fury and terror.

Inuyasha had anticipated this and had the perfect response. "It's not my fault".

Kagome threw her arms up in the air. "Oh, then it's all okay then. Everything is perfectly a.o.k. How is this not your fault? YOU are not supposed to be here. No one is supposed to SEE you until you've had adequate time to prepare. That was one of the first things we agreed upon. Oh God, this is a disaster" Kagome said slumping down into her chair, every known emotion raging within her.

Inuyasha held up his arms in protest. "Hang on a minute. It's not as bad as you think."

Kagome glared up at him. "How could this not be as bad as I think? Why are you HERE Inuyasha? That's the question I want answered." She continued in her stage whisper.

"I had to come. I didn't exactly have a choice." Inuyasha began.

"How did you not have a choice? You always have a choice, Inuyasha. Totosai didn't force you at gunpoint to come into my office" Kagome interrupted. "And how do you know Totosai in the first place?"

Inuyasha took a deep breath and launched into his explanation as calmly as possible. "I met him out on the street, by complete random coincidence." Sensing she was about to interrupt he silenced her by holding up a finger. "I know…what are the chances? The answer: astronomical. We didn't know who either was and we got to talking and he recognized my name from you and insisted I come visit you. I tried to get out of it, believe me, but in the end I figured it was better not to piss off your boss. Trust me, and everything is fine. Somehow…I apparently did a good job of faking it to that Totosai guy, who subsequently is not all that bad a guy by the by, and here I am. I _know_ it's not according to the plan, but things in life rarely do. So you have to improvise and adapt. So that's what we're doing…rolling with the punches".

Kagome said nothing for a moment, merely opening and closing her mouth every few minutes like a goldfish would do. Realizing that her carefully laid plans had just been foiled, but that things were not as bad as she had thought Kagome relented. She couldn't help reacting the way she was. This meant the world to her and more. Finally, Kagome looked up meekly from her seated position. "You really think you convinced him?" she asked trying to keep the meekness and whining tone from her voice.

"Absolutely. I think I left him with a good first impression. I think everything is o.k. All right? Don't worry yourself silly just yet. You have months of that ahead of you." He said sympathetically.

Kagome sighed out and stood up. "Okay, fine. I'll do my best to make the best of this…rather unfortunate deviation from our carefully laid plans" she conceded raising her arms from her sides in defeat.

Inuyasha nodded in agreement. "Oh…these are for you. Totosai said I should bring you these" he said handing her the flowers in his hand, only slightly mussed from his tight squeezing.

She stared at them as if confused for a moment before taking them, secretly very touched. "Thank you" she managed laying them gently on the windowsill.

"So this is where you work?" Inuyasha asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets and looking around the office hoping to steer the conversation away from a less explosive can of worms, lest Kagome's office be privy to a shouting match between himself and the rather unpredictable young woman he was with.

"Yup, this is it" Kagome said gesturing out to the office and making a slow circle. "So you really think you did a good job convincing him?" Kagome pestered further. "What did he ask you about...and what did he say"

Inuyasha smirked gently and took a few steps forward placing reassuring hands on her shoulders. "I'm positive. He really just kind of asked me about me and just a few things about you like your favorite flower and such"

Kagome nodded her head as he spoke. "And you said?" she asked, referring to the flower question.

"Feh, did you even look at what I brought you?" he asked.

Turning Kagome glanced over towards the window and saw that the flowers she'd accepted a moment ago were daisies, still resting on the windowsill. Grinning happily she turned back, giving Inuyasha a quick hug. "Sorry, I was flustered. Thank you, you were right. How did you know that daisies were my favorite flower?" she asked.

Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders. "I'd like to say it was because I know you so well, but in this instance...pure blind luck mixed with some insight and instinct." He tilted his head questioningly, "So Inuyasha do good?"

Kagome giggled in spite of herself. "Inuyasha do very good" she said and taken up in the moment leaned forward to give him a chaste kiss on the cheek. It was hard to say in retrospect whether it was a mistake. As with any action, the consequence can be negative, positive, or both. Both aspects were certainly present in this instance. On the one hand it was rather nice. Expressing her gratitude for the flowers, but on the other hand, memories and feelings of that night almost a month ago had resurfaced again, the same tingling sensations in both their stomachs and the same flash of emotion across both of their eyes as she slowly pulled away from his face. Kagome felt Inuyasha's hands rise up and gently cradle her face. Her eyes were wide, her heart began beating faster so she could feel it in her chest, and she felt as if her legs might give out any second. "What are you doing?" she breathed out lost the ability to speak above a whisper.

"Kissing you" Inuyasha said quietly and with aching slowness closing the small distance between the two.

Kagome felt herself frozen to the spot. It was going to happen. And more importantly she was going to let it happen. Her eyes closed almost involuntarily as he felt the closeness between them, warm and comforting.

"Get a room!" the voice of a random co-worker called out breaking the spell between them centimeters before their lips connected leading to a collective 'OH' and scattered laughter from the small group gathered outside. Inuyasha pulled away grinning, his hands dropping from Kagome's flushed face.

"Figured they'd like that" Inuyasha commented, still grinning and turning back to Kagome who still wasn't quite in her right senses.

"Huh…what…yeah…" she said pulling back away from him more than a little embarrassed.

"Hey…sorry about that. I didn't mean to freak you out or anything. I just thought that since we're playing the loving couple…we'd have to get used to actually playing the loving couple." Inuyasha apologized.

Kagome managed to smile despite the fact that her heart was racing and her insides were doing flip flops. "It's fine, I was just paying along too" she managed to say despite the lump in her throat. "You just kind of surprised me".

"Well, I'll warn you next time, okay chipmunk?" Inuyasha said giving her a wink. "I'd better get going, I have some studying to do, and I'm sure that this was a good sample for your office buddies today, eh?"

Kagome could only smile and nod. What did he mean, 'next time'? There was going to be a next time?

Opening the door to her office, Inuyasha looked back over his shoulder. "We'll continue this at home, okay?" This only caused Kagome to break into another round of blushing furiously as her gathered co-workers decided it would be an appropriate time to become ten year olds and a rousing chorus of 'Ooooohhh' and a few cat calls followed Inuyasha's statement. Inuyasha laughed it off and strode his way over to the elevators.

As reluctant as she was to admit it, Inuyasha was pulling this off pretty well. Even if it was for only a few minutes and not the multiple hours he would have try in two days. Turning her eyes away from Inuyasha's retreating form she caught eyes with Sango. 'He is so cute' she mouthed to Kagome a smile plastered on her face and eyes wide in approval. Still feeling flustered and noticing that all eyes were on her suddenly she crossed her arms over her chest. "Don't you all have work to do?" she said, perhaps a little louder than she intended and a little higher in pitch than she'd meant to. The desired result was achieved as her co-workers broke up their little party although most left smiling and shaking their heads in amusement and approval of Kagome's boyfriend.

Kagome quickly made her way back into her office and shut her door so she wouldn't be disturbed. This was definitely bad. She was already having a practical nervous breakdown about her recent thoughts and then combined with Inuyasha showing up unexpectedly and that latest incident, which Inuyasha seemed so completely clueless about. Was she reading him wrong? She could have sworn she'd seen it in his eyes too. Afterwards though, he'd laughed it off, seemingly so blissfully ignorant. She really hated her life sometimes.

Inside the elevator Inuyasha let out a sigh of especially exaggerated relief. It had just almost happened again and he wanted to kick himself for almost losing his control and composure again. He smacked himself in the forehead, which he was sure gave the security people a decent laugh, but he didn't care. He'd never been so furious with himself. He'd never exactly been a model of control over his emotions, but when it came to something important he usually had excellent self discipline. This, however, was ridiculous. He had promised himself that he would never again lose himself like that at the risk to Kagome's future. The doors of the elevator opened and he stormed out onto the streets just as the wind kicked up, causing his long hair to flair out behind him. He resolved to bury these emotions, despite the sinking feeling in his stomach at the thought, or else do something he would regret. He really hated his life sometimes.

------------------------------

So here we go again, the end of a chapter after a long sabbatical. Sorry again everyone, please keep reading and reviewing and I'll keep writing. I'm just going to answer a few questions before I leave you again.

Did I Google the medical terms?

Yes, yes I did. I am also a huge fan of E.R. and scrubs, so therefore I did a little taking and stealing from them as well. I hadn't thought about it while writing it, but this story actually requires me to do a little bit of medical research so I'm not talking about the same thing over and over again.

Have I seen 'Picture Perfect'?

Yup, I thought about it too while writing this a little. I love the scene when Jennifer Aniston's mom is on the phone with Jay Mohr and she asks what he's wearing and he says 'A pair of boxer shorts and a smile'. I laughed forever on that. Ah, well.

Anywho.

Some words of wisdom from yours truly:

"Don't threaten me with love, Baby. Let's just go walking in the rain." - Billie Holiday

StarvingArtistinNY


	11. Ch 11: 2nd Interlude

Okay, I know I've been away for a long while, but you can't blame me. I had college to finish and I've been trying to write this chapter with all of my free time and I had none. Please, please, please don't be mad. I made it extra long to attempt to make up for it and I gave you surprise to at the end...no peeking though...just read...PPPLLLLEEEAAASSSEEEE!!

**Chapter XI: 2nd Interlude: A Ball, an Exam, and Everything in Between**

Dealing with a stressed out Kagome was something that Inuyasha was quickly becoming used to. It seemed that was simply how she operated no matter how well prepared she was stress always seemed to get the best of her. However, Inuyasha had learned how to quickly defuse the situations, usually with sexual innuendo to divert her attention by making or berate him and blush uncontrollably, or by making her laugh, or just relax with him for a little while if they both had the time. He didn't blame her either when she took out her stress on him because most of the time she didn't even realize she was doing it. That morning had been no exception to that rule.

It was the morning of the 'Toys for Tots' gala that Kagome had planned and as he had expected, Kagome was having a rather large episode of allowing stress to get the best of her.

"And what was my graduate school's roommate's name?" Kagome asked as she hurriedly flipped through a stack of papers, stuffing them into random folders and out of sight into her briefcase.

"Anna Kurtz" Inuyasha replied from his favorite armchair in Kagome's living room. He really was only half listening as he poured over his own notebook, making mental notes to himself as he absentmindedly answered her questions.

Kagome slammed the briefcase down on the counter; startling Inuyasha and making him look up at the face of an extremely agitated Kagome. Her face was red and he could swear a vein was pulsating on her forehead. "NO!" she screamed at him. "WEREN'T YOU LISTENING TO ME? THAT WAS MY ROOMMATE FOR MY UNDERGRAD _NOT_ MY MASTERS DEGREE." She was shaking hard as she clutched the briefcase in her hands, her nails digging into the leather material. "You're not ready and this is a catastrophe because everyone expects you to be there tonight, but if you go tonight you'll blow everything and then I'll lose my job and I won't get another one because they'll say that I'm a liar, which I am and I can't deny it because that will be a lie too and then I'll just be a worse liar. And then I'll have to move back home and work at the supermarket and get old and fat and never get married and I'll die single, alone, and living with a hundred cats!"

Inuyasha did his best to keep his chuckles and amusement to himself. Sarcasm and laughter were his natural reactions to things and as used to Kagome's outbursts as he was, he himself was under a great deal of stress himself. Therefore, carrying his own burdens as well as dealing with hers was a bit trying to say the least. And laughing at her was definitely not the best course of action at this particular time, but he'd never heard anyone carry on a rambling rant like Kagome. It seemed that she was able to jump to every conclusion possible in the shortest amount of time. "I'm sorry, Kagome, I didn't hear you say that. I don't think anyone is actually going to ask me about your roommate in grad school, though." Inuyasha said treading carefully.

"They might though and you don't know her name…" Kagome started to ramble before Inuyasha interrupted again.

"It was a trick question, you had your own room when you went to grad school" Inuyasha said still looking over his shoulder at the flustered girl behind him.

This seemed to relax Kagome slightly as she lessened her grip on the briefcase slightly and her shoulders relaxed slightly. "Well…good. Never mind then…so you're going to meet me back here at 5:30 tonight, right?" she asked attempting to ease her mind by going over the schedule of events that evening.

Inuyasha sighed audibly. It was obvious she'd forgotten and this did not bode well for him. "No, I won't be able to be back at 5:30, I have to meet you there. The comprehensive exam is today from two until six, so I'll meet you there at seven. Remember, I told you about this?"

In half a second all the tension that had left Kagome was back. "No you didn't…I would have remembered, I would have written it down in my planner, I always write things down in my planner when they're important and that's important" Kagome started rambling again, this time thumbing frantically through her daily planner. She stopped suddenly as she found the right page and as she read the notes in her planner her shoulder sank and the color drained from her face. "It's right here" she said in almost disbelief. "I missed it. How could I miss something so important, now the whole day is going to be ruined, I have to re-schedule everything and then I won't look professional, or like I have a bad taste in men." Kagome started rambling on again, clearly absolutely paranoid about the coming evening.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes at her, but was no unsympathetic. Placing his notes aside got out of his chair and went over to Kagome. "Kagome" he said startling her and making her spin around to face him, her hair whipping him in the face as she spun.

"What" she said in a half angry, half startled yell.

Gently, Inuyasha grabbed Kagome by the forearms. "Calm down…you're freaking out for no reason. Everything…is going to be…just…fine" he said punctuating the last two words and using a calm soothing tone.

"But what if…" she began.

"Just…fine…" Inuyasha repeated, interrupting her.

Kagome opened her mouth to interject once more, but Inuyasha stifled it by repeating himself once again. "Just…fine…"

He looked her directly in the eyes for a time before speaking again. "Now breathe and relax." He said, gently commanding her to comply as he slowly let go of her forearms.

Kagome did so, breathing deeply in and out. "I just want tonight to go well and for everyone to like you. Is that such a bad thing?" she asked feeling slightly meek and pitiful.

"Not at all," was his reply. "Just as long as you keep your head about things. You're brilliant, Kagome. And I'm not going to screw this up for you, I've told you that. I wouldn't do that to you. Because I am going to be perfect for you tonight and everything is going to be better than the best little scenario that I know you've cooked up in that crazy little head of yours, m'kay?"

Kagome nodded her head and let out a long sigh filled with all the tension she'd been holding in. "Okay. I'm sorry for freaking out and I don't mean to be on your back like some kind of freaky tobacco monkey. It's just how I am when I get stressed."

"I know, but you don't need to apologize. I've learned to deal with it. Besides, wait until I get stressed. I guarantee you'll want to kill me".

"Yeah, how come I haven't yet? You're always so freaking calm when it comes to this stuff…I mean…mainly. For God sakes, you've got an exam in a few hours that's probably the most important one in your life until now. Why are you so incredibly irritatingly calm?" She asked.

"Honestly…no freaking clue. I'm just like that. Who knows though; maybe I'm heading for a heart attack at 30." He joked.

"Well, I hope not. If you die then I'm going to have to miss work for your lame funeral" Kagome shot back a smile on her face.

"Ouch, that hurts. That's a little dark for you isn't it?" Inuyasha asked laughingly.

"Well…you deserve it right now" Kagome shot back. "Okay" she said breathing deeply again. "I'm going to go have a stress free day at work and I will see you…when I see you" she said opting not to remind him when he was supposed to be there.

"I'll see you tonight and if you're good, I've got a surprise for you. Can't wait to see you in that dress by the by." Inuyasha added making his way back to his books.

Kagome smiled appreciatively at the comment as she gathered her things. She had bought herself a brand new dress a few weeks before with Sango's help. It was just a simple black dress, but Sango continuously referred to it as Kagome's new, 'Hot Little Number'. It wasn't what she was going for with the dress. She wanted something tasteful yet elegant as was the case for most young women, she supposed. She didn't particularly see it in this dress, but if it was as Sango described it, then that wasn't so bad either. It was never a bad thing to make yourself noticeably attractive to the opposite sex. And even though she told herself it wasn't, it was for that reason she had only shown it to Inuyasha briefly, hoping that when he actually saw it on her, it was would be a pleasant surprise. "Thank you. Just make sure you look, equally good in that tux, okay?" she said grabbing her keys and heading to the door. "Ta ta, muffin" she called as she left.

"Have a nice day, chipmunk" he called after her, although not looking up. As he heard the door close he himself breathed a sigh of relief. He was stressed out about this test quite a bit, actually. Fortunately, Kagome had been too distracted herself to notice the degree of reading he had been doing over the past two weeks.

Myoga had announced the exam date and Inuyasha had wasted no time in hitting the books even harder than usual. The amount of coffee he had ingested over that period of time, he was sure was going to come back to haunt him years later, but at the moment he didn't have time to listen to his body's demands for things like sleep. That had been his life, wake up, food, read, class, food, read, class, read, food, read, read, sleep, repeat. So much hinged on the outcome of this test that he had to constantly shake the consequences of doing poorly out of his head. In fact, he had completely lied to Kagome about being stressed. He just knew that taking it out on her would be a bad idea and therefore had taken to going to the gym in her apartment building and taking it out on the heavy bag. A good half hour of hitting something as hard as he could usually did the trick and that way he wouldn't take it out on Kagome which would have only lead to stress for both of them. Despite what Dr. Anikage had told him he was basically in based on his in class performance, he knew that that would count very little if he should fail. Myoga's philosophy had always been that if you couldn't perform when it mattered then it didn't matter at all. It was especially true for medicine because mistakes meant people's lives.

Inuyasha glanced at his notes a few times, his eyes staring blankly at the pages and pages of notes he had taken. He felt like even he had studied himself to his limits. He felt he just couldn't retain any more and studying any more would simply be useless and only add to his pressure. He needed to take his eyes and his mind off of these notes and the test that would inevitably decide the outcome of perhaps the rest of his life. And there was nothing more appropriate to do then to indulge in that hypnotically sense numbing pastime of watching Kagome's enormous television. He closed all of his books and notes and stored them away in his room to adhere to the adage, "out of sight, out of mind". He grasped the remote in his hand and poignantly turned the TV on. However, to his horror, he found that the first thing his eyes witnessed was some syndicated episode of ER. Growling slightly at his misfortune he changed the channel again in hopes of alleviating his bad luck only to find that fate was playing games with him as the next channel had an episode of 'Scrubs' on it, and the next Grey's Anatomy. He slammed the remote down on the couch next to him. "COME ON" he shouted to no one in particular. He attempted one more channel only to find that General Hospital was on the next channel. He flipped the TV off and angrily stomped up to his room. "I'm going to work off this steam" he shouted at the TV as he reappeared from his room dressed in navy blue sweatpants and a red sleeveless t-shirt and grabbing his workout bag and a towel was gone.

Taking the elevator down to the bottom floor stomped into the gym angrily and directly over to the heavy bag, which hung in one corner of the wall. Dropping his towel and workout bag on the floor he immediately took a swing at the bag with all his strength causing it to swing backwards awkwardly pulling on the chains that held it to the ceiling.

"Easy Inuyasha, take it easy. I don't want to have to buy another one of those" one of the front desk clerks said looking up from his clipboard to lightly joke with Inuyasha.

"No time to take it easy, Hiten. No time at all" Inuyasha said, although taking Hiten's warning seriously and reduced the power of his strikes. He began lightly punching the bag causing indentations to form up and down the body of it as the material gave way to his strikes. His moves became faster and faster and his strikes stronger an stronger until his movements were little more than a blur of motion to the naked eye. He smirked to himself as with each strike he could feel tiny bits of stressing leaving his body, almost as if the contact with the bag was transferring from his fist into the hard fabric of the heavy bag. It was almost intoxicating, the thrill of this violence. He supposed it was the demon blood in him, calling for him to hit harder and strike deeper as if the bag itself were alive and the exposed flesh of some hapless victim of the half demon. He did his best to control these thoughts, but he felt himself give in little by little to the thrill of it, striking the bag endlessly as he focused on his punches.

--

Hours later an even more irritable Inuyasha was sprinting down the street, leaping clear over, people, cars, and various other structures, that seemed to spring up to block his path. He had let his demon blood take over and as a result he was now mere minutes away from missing his final exam. And having left the apartment without wallet, had no money for a cab to get him there, although he supposed that with New York traffic that this method would be faster. He glanced down at his watch and read the time.

1:53 PM it flashed almost haughtily at him. 7 minutes to go, and ten blocks away he read as he vaulted over a hot dog stand. He growled out loud as he dodged people left and right, catching frightened and angry looks both. It seemed as if all of New York was purposely trying to slow him down as he continued his helter-skelter race to get to his exam on time. As if on a cue, a man turned a corner just inches away from Inuyasha. Dodging nimbly to one side he missed the man by centimeters, but smashed his right shoulder into the brick of the building. Suppressing a shout of pain he did manage to successfully curse out the man as he sprinted onwards.

He glanced at his watch again and to his dismay, it read 1:57 PM. Alternating between his watch and the street before him, he watched as the seconds ticked mercilessly onward. 1:59.22...23...24. Reaching the entrance to the med school he thundered inside like a bat out of hell and up the stairs to his exam hall just as his watch hit 1:59.37. He reached the doors to the lecture hall and leapt towards them, like a sprinter towards a finish line, succeeding in losing his balance and tumbling full force into his exam and ending up sprawled on the floor causing a loud crash. 'Made it' were the only words that registered in Inuyasha's head. He breathed in deeply still on the floor and slowly began to pick himself up before he realized that the room was dead silent. Glancing up he saw the faces of his classmates all staring at him. Turning his head he saw the bemused expression of Myoga and the clearly irritated expression of Kouga.

"Charlie Chaplin ladies and gentlemen" Myoga said indicating Inuyasha who was sprawled on the floor earning some polite chuckles from the members of the class. "Take a seat, Inuyasha" Myoga said giving him a face that read that he was clearly not pleased about Inuyasha's punctuality. Inuyasha nodded, still breathing heavily and plunked down heavily in the nearest seat. The students next to him quietly gathered there things and moved a few seats away, noses wrinkled in disgust. Inuyasha frowned angrily, but then realized that he must look frighteningly awful at that moment. His cheeks were read, his hair a mess, sweat dripped off of him from his workout and the subsequent marathon he had run to get there in the nick of time. He rummaged through his gym bag and with the little luck that fate threw his way that day, retrieved an old, very battered and faded looking 'Snoopy' pen.

"Now, as I was saying before these latest...theatrics. The essay portion of this exam will commence shortly, please keep your eyes on your paper as any wandering of your eyes will result in your immediate failure of this examination.

Inuyasha continued to breath heavily as he half listened to Kouga talking in front of the class. It was standard a pretty standard exam talk, one that he'd heard a hundred times before.

"And now if someone would kindly stop _panting_ we could begin." Kouga said directing his attention to Inuyasha once again. Inuyasha glanced up, only to realize as both anger and embarrassment reddened his cheeks that his tongue was hanging out of the corner of his mouth and that he had been panting like a dog, thanks to the dog demon half of his heritage. He quickly withdrew his tongue and shut his mouth tightly glaring angrily at Kouga, who had clearly just one upped him.

Kouga continued on, while Inuyasha pretended to listen, while silently trying to focus on the task at hand. He had planned to arrive much earlier, with time to focus and grab something to drink during the arduous four hour exam that lay ahead of him, with the two hours of essay writing followed by a practical exam.

"You have two hours...begin...now" Kouga said, watching the clock on the wall to hit the new minute exactly.

'No use crying over spilt milk, let's just do this' Inuyasha thought to himself as he repositioned the pen in his hand and commenced what he was sure was to be four hours of pure hell.

--

Kagome stood agitatedly shifting her weight from one foot to the other outside the steps of the 'Trump International Hotel and Tower' where the gala was being held that night. She had left work and the Christmas/Holiday Party her office had held a little early to prepare for her evening, showering, get her hair and nails done and putting on her dress. The dress was elegant, tasteful, and just the right type of sexy for the night. The black skirt fell to the floor and swooshed around her as a halter top, with a modest neckline, displaying just an appropriate amount of cleavage to make men's eyes wander, and hopefully double the size of a certain someone's. She felt rather like she was back in high school and getting ready for her senior prom, with a few of her girlfriends. In fact, having already endured the comments of a few of her already inebriated co-workers of, "Where's your date? Stood up again, eh, Kagome?" and the like so far that evening, she had begun to get nervous. It was already past seven o'clock and there was no sign of Inuyasha.

She tried to reason that he was on his way and that maybe his exam had run long, but the irrational part of her brain told her that she had forgotten to tell him where it was or what time even though she knew she had told him at least a hundred times as well as posting various sticky notes in his room just to remind him. She wrung her hands while her eyes darted all over the street in an attempt to pick him out from the people still meandering inside to the event taking place. Maybe he had stood her up. Maybe he had taken his exam and didn't need her, just packed up his stuff and had left her high and dry. She forcibly shook those thoughts from her head, she would not doubt Inuyasha's character like that again. He had been so good to her and gratitude was the only thing she would show him.

"Nice night, isn't it?" a voice whispered in her ear causing her to jump at least a foot in the air.

Whirling around her startled eyes met flirtatious ones. "You are late, sir" she couldn't help, but scold as it was the first thing that entered her mind.

Inuyasha chuckled dryly. "By like five minutes. And I was making myself look handsome for you. Don't you want everyone in there to think, 'gee not only is he a doctor, but he's cute too?'"

Kagome pouted without a real reason to, merely because he was so agitating and poked him hard in the ribcage because she knew she had to relent. "That doesn't matter...but you're right. I would like that too. I just want you to be punctual while you're at it." she said frowning.

"Hey, no frowning and no picking fights with me tonight. I'm your incredibly endearing boy toy for the night, so try, even though I know it's against your nature to enjoy yourself, alright?" he said, kindly ignoring the jab to his ribs. "You look beautiful by the way" he said giving her a slow once over with her eyes.

Kagome couldn't help, but feel the heat rising as Inuyasha's eyes roved over her figure, but also couldn't help the smile secretly to herself that she had attracted the attention of her comrade. "Thank you" she said appreciatively. "You don't look so bad yourself" she returned giving him the same once over that she was given. It was true, too. She already knew that Inuyasha cleaned up nicely. She couldn't deny that as she had fainted the first time she had seen him, shaven and partially naked true, but this was enough to truly take her breath away. Dressed in a simple black tuxedo he looked especially debonair and best of all apparently oblivious to the fact. "Not bad at all" she said letting her eyelids finish the gaze up his form.

Inuyasha cleared his throat and in rare _occasion_ of nerves raised his eyebrows in shock which in turn caused Kagome to smirk with pleasure. He recognized that smirk for sure and was certain that he was a bad influence on Kagome. Recovering quickly he chimed in. "Well, I'm glad I have passed inspection. Now then...shall we go in there and wow them?" he asked offering her his arm.

Kagome shaken from her flirtatious banter with Inuyasha came crashing back to reality. "I think so, just let me go over the checklist in my head." she said grasping onto Inuyasha's shoulder for a moment while she thought aloud. "We've got you, and me, dressed and ready, hair, makeup, bag, notes, tickets..." she rambled off before turning to face Inuyasha again. "You're sure you're ready and memorized about _everything_ Inuyasha?" she asked, her eyes looking up at him apprehensively.

"Absolutely" was Inuyasha's simple response.

Needing no further encouragement, she softly place her arm in Inuyasha's still outstretched one and with a deep breath said, "Then... let's... go" and began to take confident strides forward.

Inuyasha was amazed. Moments ago, she was the fluttery and nervous and now, a young, vivacious, confident young woman was at his side. He couldn't help, but look at her in admiration as the two walked inside.

Catching him staring out of the corner of her eye, Kagome slowed their pace and turned slightly towards him. "What" she asked in hushed tones.

Inuyasha smirked, "Just thinking how lucky you are to have a guy like me on your arm to make you look good, is all" he joked.

"Hardy har har" Kagome retorted, sarcastically. "Focus, now and be on your best behavior, alright?" she commanded more than asked.

Inuyasha just kept on smirking, "Whatever you say, chipmunk, whatever you say".

Inside of the hotel, the pair crossed the lobby silently as Inuyasha took in the sights of the posh hotel. Arriving at the entrance to the grand ballroom, where the gala was to be hosted and handing their tickets to the doorman swept inside. In the ballroom hundreds of people roamed around talking and laughing, each dressed in elegant gowns or handsome tuxedoes. Inuyasha could not help, but gape at his surroundings. From the marble floors to the high vaulted ceilings it was the very picture of elegance and taste. Great arched windows, with a beautiful view of the twinkling city lights surrounded them as gentle music from a string ensemble played quietly in the background. At the rear of the hall was a small stage with a Christmas tree so tall that it almost touched the ceiling. It was decorated with tiny lit candles instead of the white twinkling lights. The whole tree was decorated as if it were from over one hundred years ago, with hundreds of tiny antique looking decorations and a paper chain encircling the girth of the tree and finally topped off by a gorgeous silver star at the very top.

Noticing that Inuyasha's speed had slowed to more of a trudge than a walk, Kagome looked up at him and grinned at him with her pearly whites, very pleased by his reaction. "You like?" she asked.

"Very much", was his initial response. "Did you do all of this?"

Kagome nodded her head, her smile growing broader. "Yes, I did. Does it seem familiar in any way to you? Can you guess the theme?" she queried gently, guiding him to the right of the small staircase they had descended to get out of the way of the still incoming guests.

Taking another glance around Inuyasha tried to place the sense of familiarity that seemed to come from the way things were decorated. "Well aside from reminding me of Christmas, yes...I just can't place it" Inuyasha admitted.

Kagome giggled slightly, brushing an errant hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ear. "Well , Uncle Drosselmeyer should be along shortly." Kagome hinted to see if he that would help. Drawing only blank stares from Inuyasha she sighed, rolling her eyes at the young man beside her. "The Nutcracker...it's a ballet...Tchaikovsky... it's a holiday classic. I loved it and this way instead of just celebrating raising money for the kids we can remind everyone of their childhoods too, I suppose. I used to love it when I was a little girl. And this way we can invite the kids too" she said gesturing out into the mass of people.

Shifting his gaze to the people milling about on the floor, sure enough there were young kids all running around inside dodging adults in a low key way, up to whatever mischief they were involved in. "Heh, " he sighed, "Who's kids?".

"The city's" Kagome answered simply. "'Ambassadors' from all of the orphanages in the city. Toys for Tots this year with the money raised tonight charity is going to give these kids a holiday they deserve and funding trips and such throughout the year." Kagome helped explain.

Inuyasha smiled toothily, "I can't believe you did all this. I mean, usually it's just toys for Christmas, but this...I mean. You're something else, Kagome. That is perhaps the kindest thing I've ever heard of." Unable to resist he pulled Kagome into a tight embrace lifting her off the ground.

"Inuyasha" Kagome cried in shock and surprise. "Put me down, put me down, you'll wrinkle my dress". She slapped him on the shoulder, but couldn't help herself from laughing a little bit. Obliging her, Inuyasha placed her delicately back on her feet. "Thank you. I thought you were going to be on your best behavior tonight, Inuyasha" she teased.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes at her. "And who says that's bad behavior? Besides, I excuse myself due to your surprising acts of saintly charity, Miss Higurashi."

Kagome scoffed and hit Inuyasha in the arm again. "Oh, stop it." she said turning away from him.

"Hey, what's with the continued hitting of the me, recently. I'm going to start bruising and then what kind of healthy relationship is this going to be, eh?" Inuyasha teased.

"Oh, be a man, already" Kagome shot back at him. "Now, come on, let's get our seats before Uncle Drosselmeyer gets here. We can start by talking to the people at my table. It'll be good practice for the big fish, later on." Kagome said grabbing his hand and leading him through the party to a table to the left of the stage.

Already seated at the table was a small group of men and women sitting and talking or listening quietly to the music or other people's conversations. Waiter's also swept in to place bowls of delicious smelling soup at everyone's place as the evening began to get underway. Glancing upward to see Kagome coming one of them spoke. "Ah, Kagome good to see you. Was afraid you weren't coming. Inuyasha, good to see you again" Totosai said nodding his head to acknowledge the two newcomers and rising from his seat slightly to shake their hands warmly.

"Totosai, good to see you, sir" Kagome commented lightly shaking his hand and seating herself with the aid of one of the servers.

"Totosai" Inuyasha said mimicking Kagome's action and shaking Totosai's hand firmly.

"Always a pleasure, both of you. And Kagome, would you cut it out with the formality, the 'sir' thing just makes me feel old and I my dear am still a spring chicken" Totosai said giving her a flirtatious wink.

"That you are...sssss...Totosai" she caught herself saying. Turning her attention back to everyone else at the table she spoke again. "Everyone, I'd like you all to meet Inuyasha Takashiro, my boyfriend."

The occupants of the table sent forth a multitude of 'Hello's" and 'Pleased to meet you's' Inuyasha's way. To which Inuyasha responded with polite nods of his head and a general, 'Hello everyone' before sitting down himself.

"So how did you and Kagome meet then, Inuyasha?" one of the other guests asked as everyone settled in to begin their meal.

Kagome froze as she was reaching for her spoon her eyes wide, thankful that her gaze was down so that no one could see her reaction. She realized with building horror that she had never actually addressed that. They had decided a story of how long they'd been dating, but had never once come up with plausible story. No one had asked them that question, yet. She wanted to smack herself in the head. Of all the stupid and moronic things not to come up with Kagome couldn't believe she had forgotten that of all things. Before Kagome could panic anymore, Inuyasha started speaking.

Setting his forest green cloth napkin across his lap and using the spoon to help him gesticulate Inuyasha began. "Funny story, actually. We met out on the cold mean streets of New York, actually. I saw her being hassled by these two gentlemen, so I intervened on her behalf and when you get to play the knight in shining armor, is there a better way to a woman's heart?" he asked inciting chuckles from those seated around him. He continued, "Anyway, we started talking and before you know it, she asks me out."

The group at the table all laughed genuinely. "Really, just out on the street like that. People in this city rarely talk to each other, let alone help someone. It seems like you've landed a real keeper, here Miss Higurashi." one of the group chimed in.

"Well, wait. Sure, he's chivalrous, but what does he do is the question?" asked another.

"I'm a doctor...well, med student, actually" Inuyasha began.

"Where do you study?" asked another of the group.

"NYU Medical. I'm halfway through my second year" Inuyasha answered.

"Wonderful, my alma mater, you know." the same one said proudly. "Is Myoga still teaching there or has he finally retired?"

"Oh, he's still there, stubborn as ever" Inuyasha responded. And so the conversation continued, moving away from Kagome and Inuyasha's relationship and onto other things with Kagome hardly saying a word. She just sat and watched Inuyasha talk, chiming in occasionally when asked or interrupting Inuyasha to add in bits of her own. All in all though, she was just so happy with the way he had handled the situation. Without breaking a sweat he had told a slightly extended truth as to their meeting. He was doing wonderfully though, being witty and charming and humorous on occasions as well.

However, before conversation could continue, the lights in the ballroom began to flicker and dim, slightly causing the children to glance around curiously and the adults, who were aware of what was going on to sit and focus their attention on the double doors leading into the room.

The doors suddenly burst open and in walked a man, dressed eccentrically in period 19th century clothes, complete with buckle shoes, three pointed hat, vest, a long wig and an eye patch covering one eye, but despite the rather fearsome pose this gave him still managed to seem intriguing more than scary.

"Good evening all, I'm not late am I?" the man asked tipping his hat to everyone in the room to which a few people acknowledged with scattered responses of 'no'. "Oh good, good. I'd have hated to be late. Although it seems I'm just in time. Say now, I was told there were some kids here, is that true? Where are all of you hiding, can you kids come on up here and help me with something?" he asked generally, scanning the sea of people to find the kids. "Oh, come on now, don't be shy." he encouraged.

Slowly out of the woodwork of people the children crept forward, wide eyed with curiosity. "Santa?" one of them asked wondrously and the crowd chuckled.

The man smiled kindly and gave the kid a wink. "No, I'm not Santa, he's a little busy tonight, but he asked me to stop by. Just call me Uncle Drosselmeyer" he said tipping his hat to them. "Now, now that's not right." he said looking beyond their heads towards the bag of the ballroom. "That's not right at all. This is supposed to be a party isn't it, but it's not quite right yet. I say, do you think that you could all help me out with something?" he asked kindly.

A few of the kids nodded still gazing at him wide eyed with curious anticipation.

He knelt down slightly so he could look all of them in the eye. "You see that great big tree over there? Does anyone notice anything wrong with it?" he asked kindly, indicating it with a slight nod of his head. All of kids were silent until one little girl spoke up. "It's...not lit up?" she asked shyly.

"Precisely, what a smart girl you are. Would you all help me light that tree up?" he asked walking up to the stage.

The kids all following him stared at him some grinning broadly now, but a few slightly confused. "But we don't have any matches and we're not s'posed to play with them" one of the little boys said.

Drosselmeyer smiled, "That's very true, but we don't need matches here tonight. Just a bit of magic" he added in a slightly hushed voice.

"Magic?" the same little boy asked, his voice full of wonder at the thought.

"There's no such thing as magic" an older girl pouted indignantly.

"Really, now?" Drosselmeyer said turning to look at the tree. "What about this then" he said. Then leaning down towards one of the candles he began to blow ever so slightly one the candle and sure enough it began to smoke, slowly at first then gradually more until a tiny flame rose from it flickering gently in the room. "Magic, like so many things exists only if you believe in it" he said gently to the awestruck children.

Inuyasha leaned forward in his seat, just as mesmerized as the kids. Kagome placed a hand gently over his smiling, glad to see that he was having as good a time as the kids were. She silently placed a finger to her lips and pointed at the kids, indicating that he should pay attention.

"Go ahead, now you try" he said indicating a little girl with brown hair done up in pigtails. Slowly the little girl he indicated rose up and walked to the tree looking back nervously every once and again before stopping in front of the tree.

"Why don't you try that one there" Drosselmeyer said indicating one with a finger. "And remember...just believe"

The little girl nodded her head and leaned towards the candle he had indicated and scrunching up her face blew gently on the candle just as he had done and sure enough, first a little smoke and a flicker until the tiny flame had sprung to life. The smile on her face started small, but then erupted on her face into a grin that went from ear to ear.

"Now kids, would you all do me a favor and on the count of three help me light up these candles in one big breath, hm?" he asked to which all of the kids nodded vigorously, happily shouting as they did. "Okay now...one...two...THREE" he said and with a giant breath all of the kids blew out and in a burst of light the candles on the tree all lit up starting at the bottom and spiraling all the way the top earning a chorus of cheers and applause from the adults seated at the tables.

"Now, can you tell me who Emily is?" Drosselmeyer asked picking up a package wrapped with dark blue paper covered with stars and tied with a white bow from beneath the tree.

The little girl with pigtails stepped forward again beaming brightly. "That's me!" she exclaimed.

"Well then," said Drosselmeyer, dropping to a knee. "Then this is for you." He handed it to her and gave her a small pat on her head as she blushed and mumbled a 'thank you' to him. "And all of you." he continued. "I think there are some presents underneath this tree in need of opening"

The kids needed no further encouragement and set about wildly trying to find their gifts, tearing off the paper and yelling loudly to one another as they compared their various gifts. As the kids continued their assault upon the gifts, Kagome turned her attention back to the silver haired hanyou sitting next to her. Before she could ask Inuyasha's opinion he gave it to her.

"I still can't believe you did all of this for these kids, I mean I really wish I could properly articulate what I want to say to you and just how...proud I am of you, but I can't. So it seems I'm just going to keep talking until I run out of praise for you" Inuyasha gushed.

Kagome smiled and leaned her head onto his shoulder and giving his arm a quick hug. "You can keep praising me, I don't mind."

Once again they were interrupted as Drosselmeyer spoke up again. "Well everyone, I've got to be leaving, but thank you for having me. And if you kids want to come see me sometime you all have tickets to come see 'The Nutcracker' at the New York City Ballet. Come and say hello and remember, never stop believing" he said giving a sweeping bow and exiting the ballroom to the applause and cheers of all inside. The children were escorted out moments later as the evening was wearing on and closing in on all of their respective bedtimes all of them waving to the crowd and saying goodnight and goodbye to everyone and with a large chorus of thank yous as well.

As Inuyasha waved to the kids he leaned to Kagome again. "Tickets to see a ballet? You think they'll like that?" he asked her.

Kagome nodded her head. "I think so. It really is wonderful to see...I mean not everyone will like it of course, but I think its important to expose kids to a little bit of everything, not just TV and such. How often are they going to get to see something like this in their lives, hm? Who knows maybe some of them will be inspired to dance someday."

Inuyasha nodded his head, but said nothing. "So that guy was from the ballet then?" he asked.

Kagome nodded again, "Yes, we asked the ballet if he would come and do this for us and he was more than delighted to. I'm glad really. I thought about having Santa, but I thought...I don't know...I thought it would be different and a little more memorable for them" she said earnestly, her forehead wrinkled as she thought about it.

Inuyasha grasped her hand lightly and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Hey now, we're having fun tonight. No forehead furrowing. And I think that you certainly did do that. The thing with the candles was amazing. I think you just added a little something special to their lives just with that, Kagome."

Kagome snorted in an attempt to alleviate the butterflies in her stomach and stood up, making Inuyasha do the same. "Well thank you" she managed to get out. "Come on, though. You have to meet more people. This evening is far from over. Kagome excused the two of them from their table and began to scan the crowd for signs of people of note.

The crowd, with the departure of the children had done similar and begun to mingle and talk again, the band that had been setting up in the corner began to play some holiday music to get the party in full swing. The next group to meet up with Kagome and Inuyasha was not by their doing.

"KAGOME!" a voice yelled across the crowd, attracting Kagome's attention. Unable to see anything, Kagome was startled when she was grabbed in a tight hug by a petite brunette.

Kagome 'oomphed' as the breath was knocked out of her. "Sango...SANGO! I'm so happy you made it. Are you having a good evening?" Kagome asked bubbly and happy once she realized who it was.

"Oh my God, Kagome, I'm having a wonderful time. It was so magical, it reminded me of being a little kid again. I mean I know I knew about all of this on paper, but seeing it was just a different event entirely." Sango gushed.

"That it was boss lady. You know how to throw a heck of a party" a voice from behind Sango said. Adjusting her gaze to look over Sango's shoulder she saw Miroku. Releasing Sango she ran over to him and gave him a hug as well.

"Miroku, I'm glad you made it too. Thank you so much." Kagome said she said releasing him and taking a step backward. Something was a little different here and she wasn't quite sure what. "Wait a minute..." she said as it dawned on her. "Wait a minute...are you guys ...here..._together_?"

Sango blushed bringing up her hands and waving them in front of her. "Oh...NO...nonononono, of course not..."Sango began ranting.

"We're _just _here as friends" Miroku said calmly, saving Sango further embarrassment, although he added a 'for now' at the tail end, under his breath that only he and Kagome could here. He gave her a wink which she returned, knowing that they had just made a silent pact to keep secret.

"How did you know?" Sango asked clasping her hands together and clearly embarrassed.

"Well" Kagome said looking the two of them up and down. "You do look a little like you're going to the prom together...no offense. You kind of match a little bit." Kagome admitted.

"Well" Sango said pulling up the skirts of her gown. "This actually is an old prom dress. All my money goes to tuition so...no money for new dresses." she said, but smiled still. "What about you...where's your boy toy?"

"He's right..."Kagome said turning around, but there was no Inuyasha to be found. "He was right here a second ago...ugh, I turn my back for two seconds and he takes off. Gods he's exhausting, boy do I need a..."

"Champagne" Inuyasha said re-emerging from the crowd, champagne in hand. He gave a wink to Kagome as he handed her a glass. "Figured that now that the kiddies were gone they'd pop the bubbly." Turning to Sango and Miroku he raised an eyebrow for a moment before smiling and extending his hand. "You must be Sango and Miroku...you work for Kagome. Nice to meet you...I'm Inuyasha Takashiro...or mystery doctor...or the boy toy was it?" he asked.

Sango eyed Inuyasha up and down before taking an almost threatening step forward. "Okay buddy...so you're him. How do I know that you're treating my Kagome the way she deserves." she asked stepping straight up to him, hands on hips, and not backing down until she would get an acceptable answer.

Inuyasha didn't say anything for the brief moment and then spoke. "I am always wrong and whatever Kagome does or says is always right without question and it is my job to make her life easier not more complicated with my idiocy."

Sango blinked and then took a step away. "He's okay by me." she relented. "Welcome to the family. Miroku, anything to say?" Sango asked casting a glance back at Miroku who still stood behind her silently, but he didn't answer fast enough as Sango scoffed and continued. "Of course not, you're useless. KAGOME, girl talk, now...boys...chat amongst yourselves...we'll be back soon." Sango said grabbing Kagome's arm and quelling her protests as she dragged Kagome away.

Inuyasha and Miroku stood looking at each other for a moment before Inuyasha finally broke the silence. "Women...huh?" he queried in a very male comrade like way.

"I ...like... women" Miroku responded somewhat awkwardly.

"Me...too?" Inuyasha responded in the same way looking Miroku over strangely. They stood in silence again for a moment before Inuyasha broke out again. "Sorry...this is really weird...I guess girls just kind of expect us to simply be comfortable and talk about sports or something while they go talk about us"

Miroku nodded, "I _know_ I mean, it's hard enough meeting new people, let alone being _left _alone with them."

"Yeah. Don't think we're friends though just because we both have the same view about it. This isn't a movie" chimed in Inuyasha.

"Yeah, I know," responded Miroku as the two sized each other up once more. "However, for lack of better things to do, you want to come with me while I get a drink, Inuyasha?" he asked.

"Absolutely" Inuyasha responded smacking Miroku on the back as they weaved their way through the crowd over to the bar.

--

Sango had walked clear across the ballroom so that Kagome and her could talk, Kagome being pulled helplessly in tow, her attempts to slow or stop Sango falling on deaf ears. Finally, Sango released Kagome from her iron grip and plopped down at a vacant table.

"So..."Sango said leaning forward as Kagome sat down, rubbing her arm where Sango had gripped so tightly.

"So..." Kagome asked, confused by what Sango was asking her.

"What's happened since we last talked...any more stories...presents...intimate moments...spill" Sango said leaning closer to Kagome with every word.

"Not...really" Kagome said to the uncomfortably close Sango.

Sango sat back disappointed for a moment, allowing Kagome some breathing room, but shot back another question a moment later. "Well...what did he buy you for Christmas?" she asked hopeful for any bit of dirt.

"He didn't" Kagome said automatically before realizing what she had said.

"HE DIDN'T!" Sango shrieked standing up. "How could he _not_. What's the matter with him? Are you upset? I'd be upset!"

Kagome grasped Sango's hands in an attempt to calm her down to get her to sit down. "YET" she said loudly enough to overpower Sango's rising volume. "Not yet is what I meant. We decided to give each other our gifts to one another tonight." she quickly lied.

"Oh," said Sango, quickly sitting. "Well, that's different. What did you get him?"

"It's a surprise" Kagome answered in an attempt to steer the conversation.

"Oh come on...details..._what_ did you get him? Book, movie, naughty lingerie?" Sango asked wiggling her eyebrows.

Kagome shot up mortified, "Nothing of the sort we haven't...we don't..." Kagome said fumbling for words.

"Maybe the naughty lingerie would help, instead of the boring stuff you wear." Sango commented.

"How dare you call my underwear boring, it is NOT boring" Kagome retorted, not sure if she could be more embarrassed.

"I'm just saying" Sango said putting her hands up and shrugging her shoulders. "Seriously though, what did you get him?" she asked.

"Well..."Kagome conceded. "I found this old style doctors bag at this little shop in the East Village and I thought it might be something he'd like. And I had this picture of the two of us framed and ...well yeah...I just hope he likes it" she answered. She hadn't really meant to get him anything as she didn't want to put him in the position of having to buy something for her so she wasn't even sure how or when she was going to give it to him.

Sango practically melted into a puddle on the floor. "Aww, that's so sweet, absolutely adorable. I bet he'll love it."

Kagome smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "I sure hope so. Anyway, though. You have doing a nice job of steering this conversation away from yourself. You and Miroku are here together. Want to talk about it?" Kagome asked wiggling her eyebrows in perfect imitation of Sango.

Sango immediately stood up and turned her back to Kagome, her mortification evident as her blush made even the back of her neck turn red. "I think we should go back and see what the boys are up to, Kagome." she said spotting the two of them at the bar and making her way through the crowd.

"Don't think this is over, Sango. You're not getting away with this that easy. We _will _talk about this." Kagome shouted as she followed Sango through the crowd over to where Miroku and Inuyasha were.

Miroku and Inuyasha both looked a little ridiculous. Both were laughing hysterically and Inuyasha was slapping Miroku's back, both had glasses of some type of alcohol in their hands.

"Well, it didn't take you guys long to bond" Kagome commented.

Inuyasha's eyes were shiny with the tears he had from laughing. He used one finger to wipe away the tears from his eyes as he composed himself. "Oh, hey Kagome, yeah. He's not a bad guy, this one. He has a great sense of humor anyway. And alcohol is a wonderful male bonding tool. Oh and by the way, Kagome" Inuyasha said taking her by the arm and bringing her to the side slightly. "You know how I was joking about anyone asking what your measurements were at this party...well..." Inuyasha said trying to keep a straight face.

Kagome's mouth dropped down to the floor. "What?! Miroku...wha..._why were you talking about my measurements, Inuyasha"_ Kagome said in an intense whisper, gripping his forearm tightly. "And you had _better_ have a ...a..._damned_ good reason" Kagome said the fire in her eyes showing that she was not to be messed with at the moment.

Inuyasha patted her reassuringly with his free arm as the other was caught in her vice like grip. "Relax, Kagome. It's for a gift from, Sango. I know, I thought he was being a pervert too, but it's legitimate. She just doesn't know your size and asked Miroku to ask me."

Kagome calmed down slightly, but did not release the death grip she had on his arm. "Oh...well...that's different I suppose. What did you say?" Kagome asked him.

Inuyasha smirked, "I told him, I wasn't sure myself and that I would ask."

Kagome blinked in surprise. "That's it...nothing...further...no...additional details about things" Kagome tried to articulate, rolling her hand in an attempt to allow her more clarity of speech.

"No, nothing else." Inuyasha conceded.

"Okay, then" Kagome said nodding her head.

"Well?" Inuyasha prompted.

"Well? Oh...right...well, um. What does she need?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha smiled. "Just waist, my dear."

"Well, okay then...29...okay?" Kagome finally permitted, although with slight reservation. It was always a touchy subject with women, she couldn't help it.

"29, gotcha" Inuyasha said with a nod of his head. Sensing the hesitation though he gave Kagome a quick hug. "Always knew you were a tiny little thing. You look great." he smiled disarmingly and went to reveal the newfound information to Sango and Miroku.

Kagome smiled, shyly, still self conscious, but happier all the same. She watched as he spoke briefly to her two colleagues, and seeing Miroku nod in acknowledgement and Sango slip a pen and paper out of her purse to write it down on. Her blue eyes watched assiduously as he spoke with her friends apparently cracking a small joke because they all suddenly laughed, making Kagome do the same, even though she hadn't heard. Catching her gaze on him, he turned and smiled, gesturing his glass towards her and saying something else to which Sango and Miroku nodded and wandered off arm in arm. Inuyasha sidled up to Kagome, giving her a playfully irksome smile. "What?" he asked.

Kagome shrugged her shoulders. "Nothing"

Inuyasha let out a sigh, took a sip of his drink and stood by her side.

Kagome cocked her head to one side to look at the glass in his hands. "What are you drinking?" she asked.

"A Manhattan" he replied.

"Ooh, sounds good, let me try" she said whisking the glass from his hand and taking a sip.

Inuyasha uttered a word of protest, but Kagome had already took a drink anyway. He prepped himself for an expected reaction, inhaling sharply and closing his eyes, but it didn't come. Opening his eyes slowly, he met Kagome's eyes, who were staring at him curiously. "What?" she asked bewildered.

"You like Manhattans?" he asked shocked.

"Yes...I do." she answered.

"But it's like pure whiskey and vermouth" he said, still taken aback.

"What...because I'm a girl I can't like Manhattans" Kagome said giving him a wry grin.

"No, I just didn't expect it is all. I never knew you were such a lush" he said grabbing his drink back.

"I am not a lush" she protested as Inuyasha grasped her wrist and led her towards the bar. "Whatever, wino, let's get you one too".

--

The gala event continued on into the night, several more times, Kagome brought Inuyasha over to meet and greet several of the more important executives from her company. Although, to Kagome's amazed disappointment she could not find the CEO Mr. Whytecrosse, anywhere to be seen at all. After speaking once more with Totosai, she had learned that Mr. Whytecrosse had called it an evening and left moments before she had brought Inuyasha over to intrude on their circle. And although, Kagome had initially panicked, she had smiled and excused them politely and as they walked away had whispered reassuring words to Inuyasha, instead of vice versa. "It's okay, he'll here things from other people and that might be a better way to hear about it...he form opinions quickly and he's...well... he's a jerk." she had said, whispering the last part to Inuyasha making him chuckle.

The lights in the ballroom suddenly dimmed causing everyone to turn and look at the stage again. "Attention, everyone, your attention please." a voice called from the stage. Everyone's attention shifted and conversation slowly died down as everyone turned to see, Totosai, microphone in hand waving the other hand at everyone in a quiet down sort of way. "Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen, for those of you who do not know me I am Totosai and I am the Senior Vice President at Whytecrosse Advertising and before the evening continues a moment further I would like to make everyone aware and hopefully get her to say a few words as well, of the extremely bright, gifted, and creative mind behind this entire evening. Please, everyone give a warm round of applause to Miss Kagome Higurashi." Totosai spoke enthusiastically and applauded as everyone else did the same. Kagome was overwhelmed and if it weren't for Inuyasha gently pushing her towards the stage would not have been able to get her feet to move forward.

She took small steps forward as the crowd turned and applauded as she made her way to the stage. Accepting Totosai's outstretched hand and hoisting herself up on the stage she took the microphone with a nod and a mouthed thank you to Totosai. She held the microphone in both hands and cleared her throat as she scanned the sea of people.

"Well, thank you everyone, thank you very much" she began, a little unsure of what to say. "I wanted to make this as special and evening as I could, not just for everyone here, but for the kids too. I hope that tonight we can remember that while we are here enjoying ourselves, that this was also a campaign to raise money for underprivileged children so that they might have a happy Christmas and holiday season. I want to thank everyone for their kind donations and support and I hope that everyone continues to enjoy themselves this evening. Happy Holidays" Kagome concluded.

"Happy Holidays" the crowd responded raising glasses of champagne, wine, and various liquor to her speech and then giving her a smattering of applause again as she left the stage again.

"So you were the one in charge, hmm?" a voice said, causing Kagome to turn and look into the face of a man she did not recognize.

"Yes, that's me" Kagome responded politely giving the man a gracious smile. The man slowly extended a hand, smiling charmingly.

"I must say, you've done a wonderful job orchestrating this whole thing, I heard several people speaking about how much money this campaign has raised for the organization." the man continued.

"Thank you, I'm pleased to hear that. Mr..." Kagome said trailing off.

"Forgive, my manners. I'm Dr. Kouga Yubari, pleased to meet you" he said, his blue eyes dancing mischievously.

Kagome gave breathed out audibly in a sort of a half laugh sigh type sound as she extended her hand and shook his. "Kagome Higurashi, nice to meet you too". She couldn't help herself, he was a cute and attractive doctor. As if on cue music from the band began to play and Kouga tilted his head.

"Would you care to dance, Miss Higurashi. I'd love to discuss this further with you" Kouga asked giving her another dazzling smile.

Kagome cast her eyes down, flustered for a moment. "Thank you, but you see I..." she began, but was cut off as another voice jumped in.

"She's spoken for" Inuyasha said slipping a protective hand around Kagome's waist. Kagome turned to look up at Inuyasha who had a look of extremely forced expression of politeness on his face and an intense gaze in his eyes.

"Inuyasha, so this is the lovely Kagome you've been speaking about so much. I see your talk about her hardly does her beauty justice." Kouga said giving Kagome a wink.

Kagome furrowed her brow for a moment. "I'm sorry, you two know each other?"

Kouga scoffed and looked at Inuyasha as if aghast at the very thought. "Dear Inuyasha, you mean you haven't told her a thing about me. I'm almost hurt by that, but I'll forgive you. Inuyasha and I are old school chums. We'll all have to get together some time and have a nice little reunion. My card" he said handing it to Kagome who took it automatically. "Inuyasha" he said giving a slight nod.

"Kouga" Inuyasha replied with the same crisp air of formality and watched as Kouga cast one more smiling glance at Kagome before retreating into the crowd.

Kagome watched with interest. "What was all of that about?" she finally ventured to ask.

Inuyasha turned to look down at Kagome and gave her a reassuring smile. "Oh, nothing, just an old acquaintance of mine from before I met you. Don't worry about it, it's nothing" he said trying to steer the subject away from the encounter. He pulled her out onto the dance floor and swung her into his arms. He gently placed a hand around her waist and the other in her hand as Kagome placed a hand on his shoulder. The two swayed in silence for awhile dancing slowly to the strains of 'As time goes by' from the band.

"I never knew you could dance" Kagome finally said breaking the silence.

Inuyasha cast a glance down at her. "Feh, I'm good at a lot of things" was his response.

Kagome rolled her eyes, but laughed softly. "Yes...yes, you are Inuyasha".

"How else am I supposed to woo the ladies if I can't dance?" Inuyasha said twirling her sharply making Kagome squeak a little as the sudden shift of momentum caught her off guard. However, not to be outdone added her own retort.

"What you mean the unending egotism and sarcasm doesn't do it every time?" she teased.

"Hey, I am a gentlemen" Inuyasha said earning another snort of laughter from his black haired dance partner. "It worked on you didn't it? You think I'm charming. We are 'dating' after all" Inuyasha threw back at her.

Kagome rolled her eyes, but snuggled into Inuyasha's chest as the two swayed. "Touché, sir, but only because I don't feel like arguing with you further" she said.

"Why not?" Inuyasha goaded.

Kagome looked up at him blinking her chocolate eyes and gave him a smile. "Because this is nice" she said returning her head to its former position so she could continue to breath in his cologne.

Inuyasha had no witty response for that. The way she had looked at him was so disarming and sincere and he was enjoying the way they seemed to fit nicely as they swayed to the music. Besides, the silence that now pervaded the air between the two did not seem awkward at all. It seemed as though it simply was a time to be silent and that was just fine with him. He tried to think of something to say, inhaling deeply, but instead took in scent of her perfume and said nothing. He settled his head gently atop of hers and although he knew it wasn't right or his to decide enjoyed himself because she was there and he was there if just for one moment.

It was again Kagome who broke the silence. "Inuyasha, there's a creepy little man, watching us" she said somewhat urgently.

"Hmm?" Inuyasha responded almost drunkenly, eyes heavy from the feeling of warmth her body had given him and the scent of her perfume.

"Right there" Kagome said, nodding her head in one direction, towards the man.

Inuyasha glanced over quickly, but Kagome grabbed his face and forced it to look at her. "Don't look, don't LOOK" she hissed at him.

"Well, what else am I supposed to do about it?" he asked her.

"I don't know...act natural" she whispered at him.

"Then let go of my face" he said arching a brow at her.

"Oh, sorry" she said quickly letting go of his face.

Inuyasha, however, unable to let his curiosity go unsatiated turned to look at the man Kagome had spoken of and laughed aloud. "Kagome, I've been meeting your people all night, I think it's time you met mine."

Kagome look at him startled and confused. "What...who?" she asked tucking a loose strand of hair back behind her ear.

Stopping their dance he lead her over to the 'creepy little man' that she had pointed out earlier. "Kagome Higurashi, allow me to introduce you to Dr. Myoga Mioshi, my professor at NYU Medical and my advisor as well". He said presenting her to the tiny man.

"A pleasure, my dear, a genuine pleasure." the small flea demon said giving a surprisingly extravagant bow for someone his age and gently placing a kiss on her hand. Standing up straight he gave her another slight nod. "My dear, this evening has been wonderful. You've done a simply marvelous job and I'm honored to meet the one responsible for tonight. I'm going to speak to the University about sending a great deal more funding towards this you can be sure of that" he said still smiling.

Kagome was absolutely flabbergasted. A moment ago he had been a creepy little old man staring at her, but now...well, looks could be deceiving as she had lived and learned. "Thank you, so much" she said feeling as if she wanted to hug the tiny man.

Myoga smiled again. "You're very welcome, my dear, very welcome." Turning to Inuyasha he scowled. "And you, you big lummox, it took you long enough to introduce me, I've been standing over there for five minutes at least."

Inuyasha was stunned. He had been far nicer a moment ago to Kagome than he'd ever seen him in his life and now was suddenly just as sullen as ever towards him. It came with the their type of relationship he supposed. "Hey, Myoga, quit your bellyaching, you met her didn't you." he said giving back to his professor just what he'd been thrown. "How'd they let you into this thing anyhow?"

Myoga glared up at the half dog demon, "I might ask you the same thing. How'd he manage to get into this, did he bribe you?" he asked Kagome, who just chuckled silently into her hand. "I got in because I'm obviously important...the wife drags me every year" he started to grumble, but changed his tune halfway through. "However, I can honestly say that this is the first year I've enjoyed myself. Bravo, you kids go have fun now, I've got to go find the wife and get home to start grading those papers. Do you think you could have written anymore there, Master Takashiro. You're going to keep me up all night with your ridiculous writing" he walked away scowling. "Lovely to meet you." he said excusing himself.

Kagome blinked for a moment watching the tiny man retreat, "Well that was interesting. He's so funny. How come you've never mentioned him before?"

Inuyasha practically choked. "Yeah, he's funny when you're not his student. That man is a slave driver" he said jerking his thumb in the direction that Myoga had left.

Kagome smacked him on the arm and turned a haughty look at him. "Probably because you're difficult...respect your elders. Now come on, we've got loads more people for you to meet, now look pretty and be my arm candy." she demanded.

Inuyasha groaned, "How much more of this do I have to take?"

"You signed up for it buddy boy. The night is young, so are we, and to quote Robert Frost, we have 'miles to go before we sleep.' Now come on, you need to come talk to the Board of Directors." Inuyasha inhaled deeply, straightened his bow tie and extended his arm. "Lead on, boss lady, lead on".

--

Much later that evening Kagome and Inuyasha arrived home at the apartment. Kagome could not keep from smiling. She kicked off her shoes as soon as she got in the door and threw her coat on the coat rack. "Oh, what a night" she said collapsing face first on the couch.

"You think it went well?" Inuyasha queried.

"Well?" Kagome said sitting bolt upright and shifting herself to look at him. "You...were...brilliant, tonight, Inuyasha I mean it. Really, it couldn't have been more perfect. The way you talked to my fifty thousand bosses was just great...they all liked you, they said so...I mean...you were witty and charming and funny. You made Mr. Dakin laugh, I've never seen him laugh...not once. And you didn't seem nervous, were you comfortable? You seemed comfortable, because I thought you'd be incredibly nervous." Kagome started to ramble.

"Whoa, whoa, there. Slow down, first of all I don't know how you have this much energy, this late. And secondly, yes I was nervous, but I was doing my best not to show it"

Kagome just gave him a warm smile and reached out to take his hand and hers. "I just need to thank you again. For everything, this whole...cockamamie scheme, moving in here...you made me finally be able to relax a little and think that this just might work. And feel just how lucky I am to have you in my life. Like a gift from some higher power." she said laying her head on her arm for a moment. "Which reminds me" she said letting go of his hand and jumping up from the couch. "I got you a Christmas present and I just don't want to wait so...close your eyes" she said giggling like she was twelve.

Inuyasha put his arms up in protest. "Kagome, you didn't have to..." he began, but was cut off as she silenced him with a finger.

"Ah, ah, ah. Not another word. I know we thought we shouldn't, but I wanted to because you're much more to me than just a roommate." she stopped smiling and looked at him dead in the eyes and swallowed audibly. "You're probably the best friend I ever had" she said attempting to smile and tears welling up in her eyes. Before Inuyasha could respond though, she'd broken away and ran to the hall closet. Opening the door she pulled out a gift bag and a small wrapped package. "Here" she said extending the gifts toward him.

Inuyasha could not say anything, he just managed to smile and stare goofily. He sat down on the couch and Kagome sat down beside him as he first opened the gift bag to reveal the medical bag inside.

"Do you like it?" Kagome asked, her voice filled with trepidation.

"It's brilliant" Inuyasha said smiling. "How did you find this?"

"A little shop in the East Village...I was just browsing and boom. I mean, I know its not practical or anything I just thought that it might be nice or something."

"It's brilliant" Inuyasha repeated. "And very thoughtful" he said smiling as best he could.

Kagome smiled, happy that she had made him happy. "Wait, there's more, open the other one" she said grabbing the other package and placing it in his lap.

Inuyasha smiled again and obliged her, gently tearing off the colorful paper, or at least attempting to. "Geez, did you use enough tape...it's like you wrapped it in tape and no paper. You went tape crazy" he joked.

"I was thorough" Kagome protested.

"If that's how you want say it, that's fine with me" he ribbed her a little further.

"Fine then, I'll take it back from you" she said reaching over to grab the gift.

"Sorry you can't, it's mine now, my gift and no take backs. Those are the rules, which I just made up" he said holding it away from her so she could not reach it.

Kagome huffed, "Fine, but be nice, it's the holidays"

Inuyasha nodded and tore away the remaining paper. Inside was a framed picture of the two of them that had been taken when they had taken a random trip to the Zoo over Thanksgiving when both had realized that neither of them had been. They had gotten a reasonably friendly tourist to take it for them. The picture showed both of them in front of the penguin exhibit, which Kagome had wanted to go in so badly and had Inuyasha and Kagome seated next to the cage where a few curious penguins had come to the glass, much to Kagome's delight.

Inuyasha said nothing, but took Kagome's hand in his, shocking Kagome a little. "Thank you, so much...this means a lot." he said his voice trembling slightly with unexpressed emotion.

"It's no big deal" Kagome said trying to keep from feeling flustered under his gaze.

"No really, I mean...do you know the last time anyone got me a Christmas present...it's been...God, I don't know how long...years...I..." Inuyasha struggled to find the right words.

Kagome couldn't help the tears from pouring out, but she leapt forward and hugged Inuyasha tightly to her surprising Inuyasha a little. She sobbed silently as she clung to him. She just wanted to hug him tight enough so that all of the memories of his past would disappear so that he might be able to have a happy future.

"Why are you crying?" Inuyasha said laughing and rubbing her back, trying to comfort her. "Hey, no tears... no tears tonight...it's been too good of a night. Now, hang on a moment...I have something for you" he said gently breaking the embrace.

Kagome was bewildered, "What? Inuyasha you shouldn't..." she began, but was cut off in the same way that she had done to him.

"No, no words...it's a present and I wouldn't have wanted to spend my money any other way so no protests, okay?" he said giving her a gentle command to which she nodded after a moment. "Okay then, wait here" he said as he disappeared into his room for a moment leaving Kagome to contemplate what he was getting. He returned a moment later with a brown paper bag.

"I didn't have time to wrap it so...here" he said somewhat awkwardly placing it Kagome's lap.

Kagome looked down at the bag for a moment and started to reach inside, but stopped. "It's nothing gross, is it?" she asked pleadingly.

Inuyasha just smirked. "Only one way to find out" he said unable to hide his amusement.

Kagome gave him a look, but placed her hand in the bag once more. Slowly she removed the box from inside. She knew immediately that it was jewelry and said nothing as she slowly flattened out the paper bag and cradled the box in her hands. Slowly, with trembling fingers she opened the box to reveal the jade bracelet that Inuyasha had bought for her. She gasped and brought a hand to her mouth.

"Inuyasha I don't know what to say"

"Say, thank you" came his smart response.

Teary eyed again, Kagome turned to look at him. "Inuyasha I can't accept this, it cost too much for you to spend."

"Hey, no protests, if I didn't want to give it to you I wouldn't have. It's nothing compared to what I would give to you. You gave me my life back so this is nothing. Besides, it was between this or socks so..." he said jokingly.

She laughed in spite of her self. "Thank you, Inuyasha" she finally said placing the box on the coffee table with the other gifts and leaning in to give him a hug. She clutched him tightly and he did the same, his fingers playing gently with her hair as she buried her face into his neck. They sat like that a long time on the couch, neither uttering a word just holding onto one another neither letting go as if for fear the other might disappear. Slowly though, they released one another and when they came face to face with the other they froze, unable to keep from looking at one another. Kagome's breath caught in her throat as her lips gently parted. She wanted nothing more than to have him kiss her, long and good like they did in black and white movies and it seemed Inuyasha was more than willing to oblige. He slowly moved in, licking his lips just once and inching his way closer and closer. Reaching out towards her, he gently held her chin in his hand any will power gone. Inches away he closed his eyes...and Kagome panicked. Snapping out of it fearfully she knocked his hands away gripped his face and planted a chaste kiss on his cheek. His eyes flying open the two shared an uncomfortable moment of silence.

"Well goodnight" Kagome said springing up from the couch and fleeing up the stairs. She did not stop until she reached her room and shutting the door behind her she immediately had collapsed on the floor. What was the matter with her. She had almost kissed him...let him kiss her...or whatever. It was ridiculous, positively ludicrous and yet...every fiber of her being ached for her to have done it and as she sat on the floor by the door, head in hands, she knew she had made the wrong decision. She had panicked, and run away scared to her room. She just wasn't good at this and despite any and all complications that it might bring, she just had wanted to give in to this 'bad decision' just once to let go and do what she ached for all over. She was going to need a really long shower for this one.

--

Downstairs, Inuyasha just sighed. Again, his control had slipped and he had almost crossed the line with Kagome. No matter how much he wanted to just kiss her uncontrollably on those so soft and ever so kissable lips of hers he knew that it was a line he couldn't cross. He would not jeopardize her future like that for his own selfish desires. He had scared her, clearly and now she was upstairs shut away in her room and it was yet another thing that would not be able to face. He hated to think that he was going to spend Christmas unable to talk to her because both were going to have to try and once again forget what had almost just happened. He sighed and picking himself up off the couch went to get ready for bed.

--

After a long shower, Kagome dried her hair and slipped into some pink pajama pants and a white top. However, tonight she knew she was not going to sleep. She was lucky that she didn't have work tomorrow and that it was the start of her holiday vacation. She did also regret that she was not going to be able to face Inuyasha in non awkward conversation for about a week. As she lay in her bed she glanced over at the clock. 2:45 AM it said in bright green numbers. Suddenly, music drifted into her ears. The same music that she heard every once in awhile and was still unsure of where it came from. Unable to resist the urge to attempt to find where it was coming from she got out of bed and slipped on her bathrobe and slippers. She descended the stairs silently and as she turned the corner was met with a sight she did not expect. There was Inuyasha sitting down at the baby grand piano that she had never touched, delicately playing 'Christmas Time is Here'. She hugged the frame of the archway and listened and watched him play for awhile as the melodic strains drifted over to her. His hands gently stroked the ivory keys and he was in a complete world of his own. Opening his eyes he happened to glance over at the door and stopped playing.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" he asked starting to stand.

"No, please don't stop. I was awake" Kagome said making her way over to the piano. "I've been wondering where this mystery music has been coming from...thought I was going crazy" Kagome tried to joke.

"Oh...yeah...that's me...sorry." Inuyasha said looking down to avoid any eye contact with the black haired beauty in front of him.

Kagome opened her mouth to speak, but said nothing unable to find words. "I uh...didn't know you could play" she said finally, forcing a smile.

"Yeah...my uh...Dad taught me. He played in a band when he was younger..." he said eyes still downcast.

"Yeah?" Kagome replied.

"Yeah" Inuyasha said.

Unable to bear conversation any longer Kagome nodded her head. "Well goodnight" she said turning and heading for the stairs.

"Kagome, wait." Inuyasha said. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you by almost kissing you like that" he began unable to keep this swept under the rug any longer. "Just with the presents and the alcohol and the guise we're supposed to be under, I guess I got a little carried away." he said, trying to save some face at the same time.

Kagome turned, blushing, happy that the room was dark so he couldn't see. "It's okay, it was me too though, so you don't need to apologize. I just don't want things to be odd between us. So don't worry about it, we'll both need to just do our best to keep our hands off one another, okay?" she said jokingly in an attempt to alleviate the mood.

"Deal" Inuyasha said chuckling.

"You play very well," Kagome said coming to take a seat next to Inuyasha on the piano bench.

"Thanks, like I said, my Dad taught me." he said nodding.

Kagome nodded as well speaking. "You know, this thing has been in my apartment since I moved in and I have never once played it. I never learned how to play so its just kind of decorative here".

Inuyasha looked at her incredulously. "Really? Well, then I'll teach you a little song, something to wow whoever comes over next with."

"Okay" Kagome said, glad the strangeness had passed.

"Put your fingers here" he instructed.

"Here?" she asked as she gawkily placed her hand on the keys.

"Just like that...now here" he said placing his hand on top of hers and slowly pressed her fingers down making her play a simple, but unmistakable rendition of 'Jingle Bells'.

Kagome laughed and looked up at Inuyasha. "I'm doing it" she remarked.

"You're very good" he responded not looking at her.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome said breathing deeply.

"What?" Inuyasha asked turning towards her, but was unable to say anything else as Kagome took a chance and gently reached up and wrapping her arms around his neck gently brought her lips to his kissing him sweetly. She couldn't believe her own actions, but as she felt Inuyasha wrap his arms around her and respond to the kiss. It was warm and not demanding in the slightest, almost hesitant and shy, but sent little electric pulses all the way to the tips of her toes. She could feel the power in his body resonate as he took over carefully cradling her head as his kiss seemed to explore not just her lips, but her very being. His fingers played with her hair as the kiss sent white hot flashes all along her body making her tingle all over as if she were taking a champagne bath. She felt herself going limp all from this one simple kiss as she surrendered herself completely into his warm and inviting embrace.

Outside, snow began to gently fall, reflecting the city lights on the two from outside, but completely unnoticed as the two continued to share this most tender of moments any thought, sound, or sight of the city outside completely forgotten as they shared the sweetest first kiss either of them had ever known.

To be continued...

--

There, I did it. I'm so sorry again that it took me forever to do it, but I hope it was worth the wait. Please enjoy and as always I'd love you all to send reviews my way. I make no promises about the next chapter, but rest assured I will be working away at it diligently for all of you. Don't worry, no matter how long it takes me I promise I will finish this story. Probably just five or six more chapters I think, but you never know...that's only a guess. My love to you all and I'll see you next time.

StarvingArtistinNY

Words of Wisdom from yours truly: "One night, I went outside and decided that for each star in the sky I would think of one thing I love about you. I was doing great until I ran out of stars."

--Anonymous


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